


One Touch and I Ignite

by Bt_32



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Oral Sex, Public Sex, Sex, Slow Burn, Swearing, Vaginal Sex, Work In Progress, vanilla sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2019-10-12 09:23:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 78,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17464826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bt_32/pseuds/Bt_32
Summary: Dana has led a hard life - a dark past she doesn’t really talk about and a slew of rude customers at her waitressing job. Despite life’s hardships, it never stopped her from having dreams and ambitions of leaving Zuzu City for good. When her estranged grandfather passes away and leaves her his farm in Pelican Town, she jumps at the chance at a fresh start on life. Arriving there, she meets many colorful characters - but none as intriguing as the weird, emo boy who lives in his mother’s basement. Curiosity blossoms into friendship and into love as Dana explores a world outside the big city and finds her place in Stardew Valley.





	1. Prologue

Prologue

“ORDER UP, DANA!” the short order cook shouted. It was another busy Saturday night in Joja Cafe, and the customers were in rare form, as usual. Waitressing in a family style chain restaurant had plenty of downsides, one being a slew of impatient customers. But, a job was a job, and Dana was good at it.

“Thanks, Stan. Let me know when Table 2’s extra fries are up. The kid’s getting screechy.” Dana replied, keeping a smile on her face. Being nice to the people she worked with and served was a must, however exhausting it might be. Being quite introverted, putting on the ‘facade’ never failed to completely drain her by the end of her shift.

The cook grunted and got back to his work. Dana took the plates to the table.

The night passed quickly, with the usual slew of rude customers, poorly behaved children, and lewd men looking for an easy target. At the end of her shift, Dana flopped into one of the booths and sighed heavily, her short blue-ish black hair falling across one of her eyes. She gently touched a letter in her pocket and drew it out.

The waitress had read this letter a dozen or so times since receiving it yesterday. Her grandfather, the one family member that was always kind to her, passed away and of all things, left her his farm. 

It was a crazy idea. Absolutely bonkers. Dana had worked for years at this dump, saving every bit of money she could so that she would be prepared to leave this place and start fresh. But what did she know about farming?

“ _You can’t do this forever, old girl._ ” she thought to herself. She looked around the deserted restaurant, crayons all over the floor, macaroni and cheese smeared onto the window. She frowned.

“I’m done.” she said to herself out loud, with resolve and walked into the manager’s office to turn in her resignation.


	2. A New Beginning

Spring

The bus idled along the country road and Dana stared wistfully out of of the window. In her lap, a book that read “Farming for Dummies” was resting, open. There were cute cartoon doodles off to the side, as well as notes.

Mentally, she prepared a checklist in her head.

“ _Alright, you’ve already contacted the local carpenter to fix up the house….I don’t know what grandpa was thinking with a one room cabin….ick. I’m glad I had enough to at least upgrade to a two bedroom. I’m broke now though...I have just enough money for seeds and food. My stuff was already shipped to the house, so that’s good…._ ” she continued rambling in her own mind.

“ _First things first - I need to get some sturdy tools, clear the land, and prepare the ground for farming so I can plant ASAP._ ” Dana took a quick scan of her book, and her notes written in the corner.

“ _Potatoes, parsnips, cauliflower, and green beans for spring. Make sure to fertilize the soil. Water every day…..It doesn’t seem so bad. I think I can do this._ ” Dana thought, smiling to herself. She had always prided herself on her ability to pick up things quickly. It’s a shame she could never afford college.

For the first time in years, she felt….happy. Living alone in a small apartment and spending most of her time at the Joja Cafe had left little time for other things. The only way she could escape her past was to make something of herself, and that’s exactly what she intended to so. 

Suddenly, her phone beeped. She unlocked the screen and saw that it was her best friend, Sasha. Dana rolled her eyes. “Here we go….” she said quietly to herself.

 **Sasha** : You’re crazy you know that. Why are you leaving me here?! Who am I going to play D&D with when you are gone?! SETH? He’s awful! 

**Dana** : You know there are ways to play online….besides, I was getting tired of HEALING YOUR ASS! :P ;)

 **Sasha** : Sigh. I’m really going to miss you, ya know? 

**Dana** : I know….but I need to do this. Joja was toxic.

 **Sasha** : Girl, your preaching to the choir. Really, I’m happy for you. I’m definitely going to visit when you get settled.

Dana smiled at her phone. She didn’t have a huge amount of friends, but the ones she did have she treasured, like Sasha. They had met in grade school and while Sasha was lively and outgoing, Dana was quiet and reserved. Together, they brought out the best in each other - Sasha learning to look before she leaped, and Dana learning to come out of her shell. As they grew older, Dana confided all her secrets to Sasha, including her dysfunctional family, and her best friend was always there for her with words of support, and a couch to watch movies on.

 **Dana** : You better. Who knows what kind of crazy people live in this bumblefuck nowhere town. Oh well, at least they have internet.

 **Sasha** : HAH! Well...maybe you’ll find the man of your dreams. I can picture it now….plaid shirt, scratchy beard, covered in dirt. Match made in heaven!

 **Dana** : Sigh….I hate you so much. OH! Ah shit the bus is stopping. Time to go put on my overalls and dig in the dirt.

 **Sasha** : LOVE YOU. <3

 **Dana** : <3

The bus screeched to a halt. Dana put her book and phone away, stored safely in her backpack and stepped off the bus. As soon as she did, the bus took off again. Dana looked around and noticed another, more broken down bus just sitting there. She tilted her head curiously, but walked past it into a small clearing.

“This place is deserted….well….at least I won’t be bothered much,” she said, approaching a nearby sign. “Ah here we go, Edgewood farms.” Dana snorted. “ _Clever name, gramps...very original. What’s next? Lakeside Ranch? Mountaintop Store?_ ” she mused to herself with a smile.

As she stepped onto the path, she noticed the entryway was very overgrown. What use to be a trellis, was now overcome with vines and weeds. She touched one of the leaves and it cracked and fell to the ground.

“ _I have my work cut out for me…_ ” she thought, continuing onward. “ _Really_ cut out for me…..” her eyes went wide as she slowly made her way down the path. The path itself was cleared off - Robin must have seen to that. In the distance was a small house, freshly renovated with shining wood, and a substantial porch.

However, the rest of the land wasn’t in great condition. The farm was set in a forest, but this was unlike any forest Dana had ever seen. Trees grew wild around the land. She stepped off the trail and into the woods. Crunching over the leaves, she took in all the wonder around her. She spotted a couple giant mushrooms and felt as though she was lost in wonderland. 

The new farmer wasn’t watching where she was going, too caught up in looking at the trees, but could have sworn she saw a tiny green figure dash away. Shaking her head, she looked down and plucked up a random daffodil sprouting from the ground.

“My first harvest,” she chuckled to herself and wandered back to the path. “There will be time to explore later….that area there will make a nice field…”

Her mind was being split in many different ways, but all of which were exciting and filled her with hope. What should she do first? Check out the house? Unpack? Weed? Clear the land?

“House first, then weeds. Unpacking can wait until daylight has passed,” she decided. It was still fairly early in the day, not even noon yet. She stepped onto the porch and noticed that the wood didn’t squeak at all. “Nice craftsmanship.” she mused, placing a hand on the door frame and stroking over the smooth wood. She turned the knob and it unlocked….as expected from a small town, though leaving doors open would be something Dana would REALLY have to get use to.

The interior was clean and smelled of fresh wood. There was a small kitchen to the left, and a living room to the right with a door leading to what she assumed was the master suite. Her belongings had been stacked in boxes in the living room, next to a worn out couch, coffee table and bookcase….all remnants of her grandfather’s past life. In the kitchen was a small wooden table and four chairs. Dana spied a note and a set of keys there.

“Dana - Thank you so much for your business! It's not everyday I get to practice my skills and I hope everything is to your liking! We also build farm structures for when the time comes. Don’t hesitate to ask for ANYTHING! I know what it's like to be in a new place and it can be really intimidating. But, I can tell you that the people in this town are lovely and supportive. I hope we can meet face to face soon when you get settled. In the meantime, I stopped by Pierre’s and picked up some seed packets for you….they are in a storage chest next to the house. I’ll be by to see how you are doing in a couple days. Good luck!”  
The note was signed simply, Robin with her address and phone number scrawled at the bottom.

“ _Wow...that’s….that’s really nice actually…_ ” Dana thought, putting down the note and continuing to explore the house. She was very surprised to see that upstairs had two more rooms, plus an extra bathroom. Surely, this was more than she asked for and she found herself tearing up. Robin did a fantastic job and the little touches in the wood were immaculate. Upstairs the rooms were empty, but she was determined to fulfill them once she had a successful harvest.

“I’m going to do this. I’m going to make grandpa proud, and pay back Robin’s kindness.” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. “This...is home now. MY home.”

The farmer walked back downstairs, past the boxes and straight outside to look in the storage box. Inside were a variety of seeds - the exact types she had listed before in her book. There were about 10 of each type of spring plant. 

“Thank you Robin….” she whispered. “I’ll have to see how much I can fit on this plot.” She stood in front of the land stretching out in front of the house. Gratefully, there was a square patch that only had one or two trees to chop down. The rest of the soil would just need some TLC before it was ready to plant.

“Better get started!” she said ina chipper way and began pulling weeds from the ground. 

Two hours later, she wiped the sweat from her brow and noticed she was filthy. But, the weeds were all gone. A few pesky stones lay to one side and she wandered over to a small shed at the back of the house. “Let’s see….AH! Good….gramps left some tools…..oh ick.” she said, picking up the rusty pickaxe, hoe, and axe. “Eventually I’ll need to get better stuff, but this will do for now.”

Another two hours later and those rocks and trees were history. The soil had been tilled into a square and was ready for planting. The adrenaline and excitement of the first day began to wear off as Dana’s muscles began to ache. She stopped for a moment, taking out her farming book and double checked the procedure before planting anything. She wanted to make absolutely sure that she did this right.

“FUCK! I forgot about the fertilizer. Good thing I didn’t plant yet. Where did Robin say she went? Pierre’s? Okay...I guess I’ll head into town….though I probably should clean up first.”

Dana went inside and stripped out of her dirty coveralls and shirt. She walked past the queen bed and into the attached master bathroom, which fortunately had shower. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. “I’ll probably gain some muscle after all this. At least I won’t have to run on the treadmill anymore…” Her body was fairly toned, but curvy. Her stomach was flat, but her hips and chest were definitely not. Genetically gifted, these things had helped bring in both good tips and unwanted attention alike. But, she was proud of her body and worked to maintain it. Years of exercising at the apartment gym and splurging on kickboxing lessons had left her in decent shape to handle the everyday farming chores….or so she thought. She looked into her own sapphire colored eyes and ran a finger through her short, spiky black hair, which was dripping with sweat. “Gross….shower time.”

After about 30 minutes of scrubbing, Dana put on a tight dark blue v-neck t shirt, black skinny jeans, and black combat boots. Casual, but still looking presentable. She never wore that much makeup, but hastily applied some powdered foundation and eyeliner….so she at least didn’t look too exhausted. “Well….time to hit the town.”


	3. First Impressions are Everything

“Let’s see….” Dana said, looking around at the buildings. “AH! Pierre’s….can’t miss the big ole sign.” The farmer looked around and saw some people walking around, moving to and fro running their errands. Many stopped and gave her a curious look, but she simply kept her head down and walked straight into the store.

The bell made a TING! As she entered the store. She saw a brown haired man with glasses at the register, speaking with a older, lovely red headed lady wearing a yellow coat. Trying to not make too much of a scene, she walked over to the seed display and carefully looked at each plant.

However, being a small town, the entrance of someone new was a big deal. “Hello young lady, can I help you? Did your car break down here or something?” Pierre said in a stern manner, carefully eyeing her with a concerned expression - not for her, but for his products.

“Oh, um. No. I’m the new farmer in town.” Dana said, stepping forward. “My name is Dana, nice to meet you….Pierre I take it?” she said with a smile, slipping back into her old waitressing habits.

“OH! Dana it’s so nice to meet you! I’m Robin!” the red head said, rushing over immediately. “Do you like the house? Is it everything you dreamed of? Please let me know if there is anything you want done…”

Dana couldn’t help but smile and chuckle - the woman’s enthusiasm was infectious. “It's lovely actually….and thank you so much for the seeds and the extra touches….it’s more than I could have asked for. I promise I’ll pay you back when I have a successful harvest.”

‘Well aren’t you just the sweetest,” Robin grinned. “Don’t worry about it for right now, hun. It's going to take some time to get settled. What brings you in?”

“Oh, I need some fertilizer to plant the seeds you gave me.” Dana replied, looking around for said item.

“Ah! Pierre, stop being a grumpy gills and help the newest member of our community.” Robin said to the proprietor.

“Ah, alright. Aisle two. There are some fancier fertilizers, but the basic one should be enough to start out.” Pierre said.

Dana thanked him and grabbed a few boxes of the fertilizer. Eyeing some of the seeds, she picked up a few she didn’t have already. She wandered past the frozen section and picked up a few pizzas and dinners, since her kitchen was empty at the moment. She quickly grabbed some rice, sugar, flour, eggs, and milk and brought her items to the front.

“That’ll be 1000g”. Pierre said, sounding almost bored.

Dana winced and fished out the money. “Well, I was expecting to spend money on seeds anyway...it’ll be worth it in the end.” she thought to herself.

Robin, picking up on her reaction, chimed in. “Dana, you should come to dinner at my house sometime. A nice home cooked meal will do you good. You have my phone number right? Let’s set up something soon!”

Dana gave the woman a warm smile. “Sure, I think that sounds really nice. I’m going to need a few days to get my seeds planted though.”

“Of course, of course! I can’t wait to introduce you to my family. Stay in touch okay?” Robin said with a huge smile.

Dana gathered her items and stored them in her backpack. “Thank you, Robin….I will. And thank you too Pierre. I’m sure I will be back soon.” she said pleasantly and headed out of the door.

She stepped into the town square and looked over at some of the buildings near her. “ _Ah, there’s a doctor’s office here, a saloon, I think there is a blacksmith over there…_ ” She was lost in her own mind and began looking up at the buildings. Since she wasn’t watching where she was going, she bumped right into a disheveled, purple haired man who was walking eastbound.

“Watch it! For fucks sake, I didn’t realize we had street corners in Pelican Town. What happened? Did the hooker convention in Zuzu take a pit stop here?” the man said in a nasty tone and looked up and down her body. Her tight clothes were a little out of place in a community such as Pelican town, but she didn’t think it would lead to that comment.

Dana’s temper flared and the dam broke. After years of similar types of comments, she was not going to take this kind of attitude here.

“Who shoved a stick up your extra large ass? You should put a condom on your head, because if you’re going to act like a dick you better dress like one, too.” she quipped to the man, who reeked of booze even though it was early afternoon. She put her hands on her hips and stared him down.

“What? I...what? Hey, fuck you,” the drunk said, continuing on his way. Smirking and satisfied, Dana turned around and decided to head back home. She had seeds to plant anyway.

As she turned, she nearly ran into another person. A mane of purple hair consumed her vision.

“That. Was. Fucking. AWESOME!” the blue-eyed, purple haired girl said to Dana.

Slightly taken aback, Dana look at the girl in shock. “Oh...I guess I lost my temper there. Great. Just what I need when starting a new life….wait...you said it was awesome?” Dana asked, confused.

“Fuck yeah it was! Shane is an obstinate asshole who’s mean to everyone. Don’t take it personally. I saw the whole thing, and I love your look. My name is Abigail by the way, but you can call me Abby.”

Dana laughed….another enthusiastic person. “Thanks...well that’s a relief anyway. I hated getting those kind of comments in Zuzu City, but with my job I could never fire back. I guess it just built up over time.”

Abby chuckled. “Oh you’re from the city? Hey are you the new farmer? Everyone has been talking about you.”

“Yup. That’s me! My name’s Dana. I was just picking up the essentials from Pierre, you know, fertilizer, frozen pizza, a will to live,” the farmer joked with a smile.

Abby snorted. “I like you, Dana. Pierre is my dad by the way….don’t worry if he comes off as sort of...gruff….that’s just the way he is.”

“I’ve experienced worst. My last boss was like that.” Dana replied.

“Ah, sorry to hear it. But hey, a bunch of us get together every Friday night at the saloon to play games and eat pizza. Would you like to join? Might be nice to relax after a long day and I can introduce you my friends.” Abby said, speaking very quickly and with excitement.

Dana thought it over. She suddenly felt very tired, but the doe eyed look of this woman made her cave. “Well….alright I guess stepping away for a few hours would do me good. I do love games.”

“ME TOO! Usually I play the coin op games while my friends play pool, but it’ll be nice to actually have another person to chat with for a change. What games do you play?”

Dana thought for a moment. “Well, I did a weekly D&D game back in Zuzu City, and when I had the time I would play World of Lorecraft and some other RPG type games.”

“Ohhhh another D&D nerd,” Abby snorted. “Those table tops aren’t for me, but I’m OBSESSED with World of Lorecraft! What is your username?”

Dana smiled as they exchanged usernames and contact information. “I’ll send you an invite when we get home and once I get all this farm stuff settled, maybe we can quest together?”

“I’d love that! You should come over sometime and play on my Ybox 480. I’ve got some really cool games, but not many people to play with,” Abby said, a little sadly.

“I’d love to.” Dana said warmly. “ _This town is going to be the death of me….I’m already socially tapped._ ” she thought privately. Despite her exhaustion, she was honestly very happy to have met Robin and Abby. Pierre and Shane maybe not so much, but if she had at least a couple people here to chat with….maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.

“I need to head back and get these seeds in the ground before the saloon tonight. What time?”

“Around 7-8 should be fine,” Abby answered.

“Cool, I’ll see you later. Nice to meet you Abby!” Dana said as she turned to head back home with a wave.

“You too! BYE!” Abby waved and shouted back, continuing onward to the mountains to play her flute.

As soon as Dana got back to the farm, she put her food away, changed back into her dirty overalls and got back to work. The sun was just beginning to set as her first plot of crops was in the ground. She wiped fertilizer on her brow by accident and grimaced. “Augg….another shower it is” she murmered to herself before showering and putting her earlier outfit back on. She set forth to the saloon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Shane a little more...antagonistic. Hey, a story needs conflict right? Sorry Shane lovers.


	4. Pizza and Pool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana heads to saloon night and meets a few new friends.

Dana stepped into the saloon, and was surprised to see it packed. She wasn’t aware the town had this many people, to be honest. Her eyes darted around the room but she couldn’t seem to locate the purple-haired girl from before. Shrugging, she went to sit at the bar. The portly owner Gus, approached her first.

“What can I get for you miss? Are you the new girl in town?” he asked politely, shining one of the glasses. Behind him, a blue haired girl was busy pouring beer from the tap. Dana looked past the woman at the selection.

“Yes, I am. Could sure use a beer after a day of cleaning up the farm. Can I have your house lager?” she asked.

“Sure can. I knew your grandpa a bit….he use to come in here every Saturday and tell us tales of when you and your brother were young kids. Shame he passed on, but I think it’s great that you are now taking care of his pride and joy.”

Dana slightly winced at the mention of her brother but quickly covered it. “He was a very kind man….I regret not keeping in touch with him as much later in life. But, I’m here now and I’m determined to make him proud.”

“I’m sure you will...here is your beer. On the house, since it’s your first night and all. I hope you enjoy living here.”

“Thank you…..Gus, that’s very kind of you. If I start growing wheat, I’ll be sure to pass some your way.” she said, squinting at his nametag. Dana turned her head slightly and looked around. She seemed to be the focus of most people’s attention and it made her very curious. In the city, most people paid no nevermind to someone new in a bar, except those looking to hook up. But here, a break from the ordinary routine caused quite a commotion. She offered soft smiles to anyone that caught her eye, and most replied with a warm raise of their glass. A few just looked away.

As Dana took her second sip, she saw Abby come bounding out from a room off the the side she didn’t notice before. 

“Dana! I’m glad you can make it,” the purple haired girl said, linking her arm with the farmers. “We just ordered some pizza and I want to introduce you to my friends.”

“Alright, why not?” Dana smiled, letting Abby pull her into the other room.

The second room was less crowded than the other, in fact only two other people were in there. A man with spiky blond hair was shooting pool with another young man with dark, emo hair. The blond was laughing and failing miserably at taking his shot, but the dark haired man only smirked and sunk his ball with ease.

“Sam, Sebastian, put down the cues, I want you to meet my new friend.” Abby said firmly.

The dark haired man grunted, paying no attention to Abby and continuing to take shot after shot.

The blond on the other hand, put his stick down immediately and went towards the girls.

“Oh hey Abby! Is this the girl you met today? The one that told off Shane?” he asked, excitement in his voice.

“Dana, nice to meet you,” the farmer said, raising her glass in greeting.

“MAN! That was so cool….that guy’s a prick but no one ever puts him in his place. My name’s Sam by the way. My Chemical Romance over there is Sebastian.”

Dana picked an unfortunate time to drink as she snorted and beer came out her nose. She laughed heartily as she wiped it away. “Hah! So I take it your the town funny guy right? If he’s My Chemical Romance does that make you a generic shounen anime hero?”

Sam laughed. “Oh shit we got a weeb here. I think you’ll fit in quite well. Seb come over here.”

Sebastian sighed, but didn’t look up. “See this is why you always lose, you never focus.”

“Don’t mind him,” Sam said to Dana, “He’s just a stick in the mud.”

“A cute stick in the mud.” Dana thought. “Well, I believe Abby and I have a date with that arcade machine, so we won’t bother your game anymore.”

“You’re ON!” Abby said, dragging her to the game cabinet. As they played together, Dana had to admit this was the most fun she’s had in awhile. They laughed together, much to the chagrin of Sebastian, who found their giggling annoying and distracting. After about 20 minutes, their pizza arrived.

“Aww sweet! Pizza is my favorite food.” Dana said, shoving a slice into her mouth. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“ME TOO! High five!” Sam said, holding up his hand. Dana gave him a hard high five.

“Damn girl, do you work out?” he said, comically waving his hand as if burned.

“I kickbox...have for a few years now.”

“So you’re obviously a nerd, farmer, kickboxer….what the FUCK are you doing here?” Sam asked with a smile as he ate his own slice of pizza.

“My grandpa left me the farm and I was tired of Zuzu City, so I decided to start fresh.” Dana explained.

Sebastian put his pool cue away and joined the table for pizza. For the first time, he actually looked at the new farm girl and was momentarily taken aback. He was expecting a bright colored, wholesome looking girl based on her voice, but her short dark hair, and hint of an arm tattoo peeking out of her shirt said otherwise. Her ears had multiple piercings and she was wearing a necklace with a 20 sided dice on it. It settled nicely in her cleavage and Sebastian had to turn away slightly so no one would notice the blush on his face.

“The dark lord returns!” Sam said, throwing an arm around his best friend.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and grabbed a slice of pizza. He looked at Dana and said with almost a sneer, “Why the fuck would you LEAVE the city? It’s so much better than here.”

Dana furrowed her brow at his tone. “I’ve lived there my entire life and trust me, it’s a cold, lonely place despite having so many people. People are assholes.”

“People are assholes here too,” he responded.

“Obviously,” Dana quipped.

Sensing the tension, Sam decided to lighten the mood. “Hey, can you play pool? I’m garbage and Abby doesn’t play….but maybe you could be the one to dethrone the current king of pool over here,” he said, hooking his thumb towards Sebastian.

“I’ve played a few times, I’m nothing that special, but I enjoy the game.” 

Sebastian groaned. This was the last thing he wanted to be doing after a difficult day - entertaining some new girl when he could be de-stressing.

“...though it seems your friend isn’t really interested.” she concluded.

“Hmmm….we could make a bet….make things interesting?” Sam suggested.

Dana perked up, her competitive side showing itself. “A wager you say? Alright, if I win, Sebastian you have to pay for the next round of pizza.”

Sebastian sat back in his seat. “Alright, and if I win, will you leave me alone for the rest of the night?”

Abby glared at him. “Seb that’s so rude!” 

Dana shrugged it off. “Ouch! You wound me. Alright, it’s a deal. Best 2 out 3?”

“You assume you’ll get to three,” Sebastian said with a smirk.

“So cocky. Fine. Let’s go emo boy.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Fine, if you win I won’t call you that anymore.” she said dismissively, turning her back to him and grabbing a cue from the wall. She put chalk on the tip and a little on the webbing of her fingers.

Seb watched her from the side. “Ladies first.”

“Alright, 8-ball?” she asked.

“Sure.” he said, leaning against the wall. “This ought to be good….” he thought to himself, confident in his ability to win this bet.

Dana grabbed the triangle and setup the solid and striped balls in the correct order, settling the 8 ball in the middle. Once she was satisfied with her setup, she grabbed the cue ball and began to line up her shot. She pulled the cue between her fingers, the chalk allowing the stick to slide easily. She gave a few test pulls before she let loose and hit the cue ball straight in the center. The break was decent, and resulted in a scattering of balls around the table.

“Nice break!” Sam said from the sidelines. Now, even Abby was interested and the onlookers watched the game closely.

“Thanks, I’m a bit rusty. You’re up Sebastian.”

Sebastian took his cue and focused on a solid ball in the corner pocket. He lined his shot, almost effortlessly and sunk the ball. “Too easy.”

Dana rolled her eyes, but watched in dismay as Sebastian sank another solid, followed by another.

“Damn Sam, you weren’t kidding,” she whispered to him as she waited her turn.  
Finally, Sebastian missed a shot and it was her turn. The cue ball wasn’t in a great position to hit any of the striped balls, so she’d have to use math on this one.

She circled the table a couple times, trying to find the right angle. She settled on one and hit the cue ball at an angle. The striped ball went into the side pocket and she let out a loud “YES! HAH! In your face!”

Sebastian rolled his eyes but was actually impressed with the shot. Her form was good, she seemed to have the proper amount of focus and logic, and she was also easy on the eyes. “Wait where did that come from…” he thought. “Focus. That’s a d20 though, I wonder if she plays RPGs.”

As she lined up another shot, the sleeve of her shirt got rolled up and more of her tattoo was revealed. It was the bottom an ornate, black dragon curling around her arm. Sebastian was curious as to what the whole thing looked like, then promptly blushed at the thought.

“What do you do Sebastian?” Dana said, making polite conversation.

“I’m a freelance programmer,” he responded, watching her take another shot and sink yet another striped ball. Sam clapped from the table.

“Oh cool. Wouldn’t expect that out here but it must be hard work. What do you make? Client software? Games?” she asked, lining up her next shot.

Taken aback once more, as no one really showed interest in his job, he softened his response, “Oh um, yeah, mostly software for corporations, boring stuff, you know? Maybe one day I’ll get out of this place and make it big as a video game developer.” This was the most information she’d gotten out of him all night, and she smiled.

“Good luck,” she said, missing her shot. “SHIT! Great….now I’ll be lucky if I get another turn.”

Sebastian smirked and picked up his cue. As it turned out, Dana was right. Sebastian sunk all of his balls and finally the 8-ball, ending the first game. “1-0”.

Dana puffed the hair out of her face. “I’m just getting warmed up.” The beer she’d had earlier was making its way through her system and she was loosing up a bit more. She did a few comic stretches with the pool cue. “Alright I’m ready for round 2. FIGHT!”

Sam and Abby cheered her on. “GO GIRL! KICK HIS ASS!”

This time, it was Sebastian who made the break. One of the solid balls went into the pocket and Dana let out a frustrated grunt. “This is so unfair. Does anyone have a cheat code for this game?”

Abby laughed at that and even Sebastian cracked a smile. He had to admit….she wasn’t as...annoying as he originally thought. He missed his next shot on purpose, because he was curious to see what she could do.

“HAH! My turn,” she said, filled with determination. She easily sunk her next three balls, but missed the fourth.

As Sebastian lined up again, she kept asking questions. “So Abby said there were board games involved. Do you guys play anything interesting?”

“You are distracting me. Are you implementing a cheat code?” He said, trying to focus.

“Just making conversation. I’m a part of this town now, so like it or not, I’m going to be around so I might as well get to know people.”

“We play Solarian Chronicles every Saturday. Do you play?” he fired off his shot and sunk the ball with ease.

“No, but I’ve heard good things. I’ve been playing D&D for years and never got the chance to try out a different system.”

“Oh? What class do you play.”

“A healer. Cleric actually.”

Sebastian huffed. “A thankless job.”

Dana replied, equally frustrated. “You’re telling me! Those asshole won’t stop standing in fire, or attacking random guards that are way above their level. Murder hobos, the lot of them.”

Sebastian chuckled, but caught himself and tried to focus on his next shot. Unsurprisingly, he missed.

“What is this devil sorcery of yours?” He said, with a hint of a smile.

“I call it a +3 bonus to charisma.”

Sam snorted. “NERRRRDDDDD!!!!” Dana shrugged innocently. “Guilty, I suppose.” Sam leaned over to whisper something to Abby, and she nodded. Dana cocked her eyebrow up but thought nothing of it. There was a game to win.

She eyes the table like a shark and found her move. One after another, her balls were sunk, leaving only the 8 ball. “8-ball, left corner pocket.”

“A called shot? Usually we don’t do that because Sam is terrible anyway,” Sebastian asked.

“HEY! I resemble that remark,” Sam said, finishing up his beer.

Dana leaned over and took her shot. She watched as the 8-ball rolled, bounced off the wall and landed in a hole - the RIGHT corner pocket.

Dana’s shoulders slumped and she looked crestfallen. “How…..FUCK THIS GAME!” she growled. She walked over to the table and chugged the rest of her beer. “Sorry guys, I could not dethrone the king. Maybe next time.”

“Are you kidding? That was awesome! That’s the closest anyone’s ever gotten to beating Seb. I’d put money on you winning at least one game against him.” Sam said, amazed.

Dana chuckled. “Well, maybe next time. A bet is a bet and I should be heading back to the farm anyway...I have to get up early to tend to the crops. Thanks for the fun time, everyone,” she said. She turned to give Sebastian a flourishing, dramatic bow. “Until next time, your highness”

Sebastian almost found himself wishing he hadn’t made that bet, as he didn’t mind her company so much. “Bring you A-game next week. If you win, I’ll still get you that pizza.”

“Deal!” she said, smiling. 

Just as she was about to leave, a familiar face appeared before her. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the smart mouthed whore from earlier today. What are you trolling the bar now for clients?” the slurred voice said.

Dana sighed and turned around. “Shane, right?”

“Yup.” he said, letting out a rather unpleasant burp.

“You’d do well to treat people with more respect….especially me since I LIVE in this town now.” Dana said hotly, crossing her arms and unintentionally showing off her cleavage.

“Hmmm maybe we *hic* got off on the wrong foot then, darling…” he said, trailing a finger down her arm. “If you live here now maybe we can be ‘friends’...” he continued in a creepy, lazy way that sent chills down her spine.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” Dana growled and moved his hand.

“Don’t be such a bitch, you’re not gonna find much action in this town if not me…” he said, once again touching her arm and grazing across her breast.

At the touch, as if by instinct, Dana reared back and punched him square in the face, breaking his nose on impact. He fell to the ground in a thud and the bar went dead silent.

As he held his broken nose, he cried out. “You fucking bitch...you broke my nose!”

“Touch me again, and I’ll break more than that you piece of shit. You think I haven’t dealt with men like you before? You make me sick. Go fuck yourself.” she spat.

Gus came racing over, having seen the whole exchange. “Shane….why would you do that….that’s not proper. Go home and sleep it off, I don’t want to see you for the rest of the night.”

Shane grumbled, clutching his nose and stood up, hastily leaving the room with his tail tucked between his legs.

Gus looked apologetically at Dana. “I’m sorry….he’s usually not that bad and keeps his hands to himself.”

Dana shook out her hand, which was throbbing from the impact. “I can’t say I’m okay with it….but I’ll try to be less...damaging in the future. I’m sorry about all the blood, do you need help cleaning it up?”

“No...no...we can handle it. I hope you won’t think poorly of us and stop visiting,” the owner said.

“Oh I’ll be back, I’ve got a score to settle with Sebastian,” she said, turning and using her non damaged hands to put her fingers in the shape of a V, put them to her own eyes, then back at Sebastian.

Sebastian looked shocked at the whole display, as did Sam and Abby. Abby came over first. “Your hand! Fuck, Dana….I know he deserved what you gave him, but you don’t deserve THIS.”

“I’ll be fine Abby. Thank you, I’ll bandage it up when I get home. I’m use to handling myself alone. Big city gal and all, ” Dana replied with a warm, but weary smile. “Really, aside from that, I had a great time. I look forward to round two next week.”

“Well….alright...if you’re sure. Have a good night, Dana.” Abby said, heading back to the guys. Dana gave them a little wave and left the saloon.

The walk back to the farm seemed to take forever, Dana’s mind swirling in thought. She didn’t feel the least bit guilty for what she did, especially since the town seemed to have her back. She thought about the night and how much fun she had, but there was a twinge of something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Her thoughts kept coming back to Sebastian.

“Focus yourself girl, you have a farm to run,” she said to herself, stepping inside, locking the door. She spied the box with her computer and looked longingly at it. “Another day...I have to get up way too early,” she sighed. “Way too early.”


	5. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana meets Marnie and Seb stops by with some things from Robin.

Dana’s alarm on her phone blared at 6am and she groaned and tapped it. “Aug...why did I chose that ringtone. Coffee….need coffee.”

The farmer stumbled over to the bathroom, getting herself ready for the day. Overalls? Check. Teeth brushed? Check. Motivation? Meh, could be better today. She stepped out of her room and sluggishly walked over to her kitchen, putting on a pot of coffee. As she began to wake up, she noticed her hand was killing her. It throbbed painfully, but as she examined it, nothing seemed broken or bleeding.

“Great. Just what I need for a busy day of farming.” She mentally chastised herself for getting too extreme the previous night, but still felt no guilt over the action. A slap next time...her hands were too valuable. The coffee maker beeped and soon the magical juice that was coffee entered her system. She sighed in contentment and closed her eyes.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. “This early? Who could that be…” Dana looked down at her baggy dragon pajama pants and tank top and shrugged. Her hair, while usually styled in spikes, was sticking out in all the wrong places. Welp. That was as good as it was going to get. She opened the door, coffee in hand and saw an older heavy set woman with a long brown braid and warm, gentle smile. She was holding a plate of cookies in her hand.

Dana greeted her cautiously, “Oh um, hello? Can I help you?”

“Good morning dear, my name is Marnie, I live at the ranch just south of you,” the chipper woman said.

“Oh, hi Marnie, it's nice to meet you,” Dana said sleepily, doing her best to cover her mouth.

“I um….wanted to visit for a couple reasons. I’m awfully sorry about the trouble Shane caused last night...he’s my nephew you see, but he has some bad habits. I made some cookies this morning, and I thought you might like some. And also to introduce myself of course, since we are neighbors.”

“Shane is your - oh fuck. Oh um, sorry, yes, thank you. I love cookies actually,” Dana said, gathering the plate in her free hand and holding it like a tray. She put it on the table and walked back to Marnie. “Last night was...interesting, but I understand people do stupid stuff when they are drunk. Not that its okay and everything...but it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting my first night here.”

“It won’t happen again, _trust_ me. He got an earful from Aunt Marnie about being respectful to ladies. Honestly, that boy,” Marnie huffed and shook her head. “I hope it won’t stop you from coming to visit. We have dozens of animals at the ranch….maybe I can help you with a few cows and chickens once you get a decent barn here?”

“A barn, huh? I guess I never thought about that. I suppose the crops alone won’t cut it?” Dana said, thinking this over.

“Probably not, but there is a good market if you can produce high quality milk, cheeses, and other animal products. Robin can even help you build the barn.” Marnie offered.

“Hmm...yeah something to think about. I might buy some animals from you at some point, thank you for the advice. I’m so new to all this, and I just want to do a good job.”

“You’ll do just fine dear. I have one more present for you if you don’t mind?”

“Another, honestly you guys are so nice, I don’t know if I can pay back all these favors and presents.”

Marnie smiled widely. “Well, I’ll let you decide if this is a GOOD gift.” She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. A young, shaggy, black border collie came running up to Marnie and began licking her fingers. “We found this little guy this morning, but we really don’t have room for a dog right now. I thought I’d see if you’d like him to keep you company all alone in this big house?” she said sweetly, batting her eyes a little.

Dana’s eyes widened. A dog? She’d always wanted one, but was never able to convince her parents to let her have one. She bent down and stuck a hand out tentatively to touch his fur. His mouth opened and tongue lolled out, making him look very happy as she gave him a few pets. The dog licked her hand affectionately and nuzzled against it.

“He seems to like me….you know what? Sure, I’ll take him. You’re right, I could use the company of a big strong guard dog like this guy!” she said, talking more to the dog. He let out a happy BARK! And strolled into the house like he owned the place.

Marnie chuckled. “I don’t know where he came from...its unusual to see a stray that beautiful. But he’s in good hands, I can tell. Well, I won’t keep you from your work, and if you need anything, I’m not far.”

“Thanks Marnie! I will enjoy those cookies and you have a great day!”

They said their goodbyes and Dana closed the door. She noticed her new companion curled up into a ball on the old sofa. “Hmm….an upstanding, regal creature such as yourself needs a good name.” She put her fingers on her chin and thought. “I know, how about Sirius?” The dog barked happily in response.

“Well it’s settled then, Sirius. Welcome to the family. Um….huh. I don’t have any dog food…oh I know!” Dana leapt over to one of her boxes and pulled out a big tub of peanut butter. The dog promptly followed.

“Now don’t go thinking you’re going to get treated like this all the time….it is just until I can get some real food for you…” she said as she gave Sirius a big heaping handful. His tail wagged happily, and she found herself unable to stop smiling.

“Alright boy, I’ll have to leave you alone for a bit while I water the crops and start clearing land, but I promise I’ll take you into town later.”

Sirius whined a little, but curled back up on the couch. Dana winced a little as she got dressed, her hand throbbing. She strolled outside and back to the shed, picking up and old watering can. She spied a small pond near the crop field and looked back and forth between the small can, and the pond. “This is going to take a while,” she said to herself dejectedly.

An hour later, Dana stood, stretched and cracked her back. “Aug, not great on the back. I’ll have to invest in some sprinklers soon.”

The farmer spent the next hour clearing a few extra plots of land near the first. “ _Let’s see, I’ll need a barn….probably a silo for storage, and more crop space….I think this might be enough….so many trees though._ ” she pondered. 

Edgewood was an appropriate name for the farm, she decided. It felt like a fairy tale, being out in the woods in a small house with no one around. Bird were perched high in the trees and their chirps echoed through the forest. Sirius padded over to the porch and hopped up on the swing there, watching her work.

Around noon, her stomach growled. Her pile of firewood kept growing, and she was proud of what she had done so far….though admittedly, she hadn’t cleared as much as she had originally wanted. “Stupid hand,” she grumbled. “I should take a break.”

Rolling her shoulders, she stepped up onto the porch and gave Sirius some scratches on his head. He nuzzled against her and followed her into the house, rapidly assuming his role of ‘guard dog.’ Dana snagged a cookie off the table and moaned as she bit into it. “Wow….these are _really_ good...I’ll need to get the recipe from Marnie.”

Downing at least two more cookies, the farmer made her way over to the stack of boxes in the living room. She halted. ‘Computer’ read one and she tore it open haphazardly. Everything looked in order, and there was no damage to the tower or monitors and she let out a sigh of relief.

Looking around the room, she spied a small, unused table in the living room and set it up against the window. She blew on it, scattering the dust away. She expertly set up her tower, connecting all the necessary wires and connections. When Robin was working on the house, Dana had made sure to have the cable company come out and install working TV and internet. It was a splurge, what with her reduced funds, but she couldn’t help it. Internet was a MUST, for her own sanity.

Double checking her connections, she booted up the computer and was happy to see her background - a cartoon style Daggers and Dragons group fighting a large toothed monster shaped like a treasure chest. In the corner, was her signature. She smiled warmly, looking at her old group, and sighed. “Maybe one day I’ll get back to drawing….once I find the proper inspiration.”

Her icons appeared and the first thing she did was check her connection. Her browser popped right up to her email. “YES!” she cheered. She winced at the number of unread messages - mostly spam, but there were a few from Sasha and her other friends from Zuzu City. Fortunately, her parents didn’t bother to contact her, and that was fine with her. She wasn’t sure she even remembered to tell them she was leaving for Stardew Valley, imagine that?

 

Her screen beeped as her chat program launched itself.

**Sasha** : ABOUT TIME!

**Dana** : Hey girl. Been a busy few days. Diggin in the dirt, punching sleezy townspeople, you know…

**Sasha** : Um. WHAT!? Deetz.

**Dana** : Some drunk was getting handsy and called me a whore. So I decked him. My hand hurts like fuck though.

**Sasha** : Wow...I know you were taking kickboxing lessons but I never expected you to actually hit someone...what happened to the sweet waitress I knew?

**Dana** : Look, I’m tired of being forced to smile when I’m screaming inside.

**Sasha** : Calm down you edgelord. Do you like anything about the town at least? How’s the farm?

**Dana** : The cabin is beautiful actually. Robin did an amazing job and even gave me a few extra rooms. The work itself is really tiring….the land needs a lot of work. Most of the townspeople are nice, and I found a group of people my age that are into nerd shit like me.

**Sasha** : DON’T YOU REPLACE ME! 

**Dana** : I could never replace you, love. Besides, I think I found a third for our World of Lorecraft party. Her name is Abby.

**Sasha** : Can she tank? We need a tank.

**Dana** : IDK, I’ll ask.

_Speaking of…_ Dana fished out her phone and scrolled to the contact labeled ‘Abby’. In her chat program, she typed in the purple haired girl’s username ‘RaveintheGrave2’ and saw that she was online.

**Dana** : Hey nerd, its Dana.

**Abby** Hey! How are you feeling? That was some night.

**Dana** : You’re telling me. Doing okay, I did some farm work and just got my computer setup. I can’t believe how good the internet connection is out here….I’m astounded actually. 

**Abby** : Oh, we actually aren’t far from one of the main towers. It’s one of the few perks to the town. That and the mines.

**Dana** : The mines?

**Abby** : Yeah, there’s all sorts of monsters, treasure, and ores down there! I love it….but I can never get past the 5th floor...my blade is too dull and killing slimes isn’t doing it any favors.

**Dana** : Are you sure we aren’t talking about World of Lorecraft? What you are saying sounds bizarre.

**Abby** : Nope. There’s all sorts of strraaannnngeeee creatures here. Even weirder than Seb!

Dana snorted at the mention of Sebastian, but couldn’t help but smile.

**Dana** : Okay well….if there is valuable shit down there, I’m in. I need that cash money. These tools are for the birds.

**Abby** : Sure! Only if you play WoL with me though.

**Dana** : Speaking of! My bff and I need a third for our party. How bout we set up a time for tomorrow night or something? I need to get back to doing chores and buy some dog food.

**Abby** : Sure that sounds ----wait dog food?!

**Dana** : Yeah, Marnie stopped by with a present. He’s adorable….I’ll bring him to the store with me later so you can see him.

**Abby** EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. I can’t wait! Dad won’t let me have pets :’(

**Dana** : My parents didn’t let me either. I’m such a rebel now. Anyway, I’m gonna get going. I’ll see you later!

**Abby** : Can’t wait!

Dana sat back in her chair and smiled. She was much more in her comfort zone here than in a crowded bar, for sure. Here she could relax, be herself, surrounded by the comforts of her own home without anyone telling her what to do. She quickly sent a message to Sasha confirming the game night, and stood up to stretch.

Lazily making her way into the kitchen, she put on another pot of coffee. “My coffee budget is going to skyrocket.” Just as she was pouring a cup, she heard the rev of a motorcycle outside.  
“What the…” she began, but her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by the sound of Sirius barking. She looked down at her dirty overalls and sighed heavily. “What an impression I’m making today.”

She opened the door and surprisingly saw Sebastian there.

“Oh hey...hi Sebastian, what uh, can I do for you?” she said, sipping her coffee. She peered around him and saw a motorcycle parked by her porch steps. “Huh, didn’t know you rode. Cool.”

“Hey, yeah, I do. Helps me think I guess….especially night rides out in the valley. Um, yeah just so you don’t think I’m weird or a creeper or anything, I got your address from my mom. She insisted that I bring over some stuff for you,” He said somewhat sheepishly.

It was then she noticed the bag in his hands. “Your mom?” she asked.

“Yeah, Robin is my mom. She built this cabin. She heard about what happened last night and she absolutely would not leave me alone about it. I didn’t even tell her! She heard it from my sister Maru. Suddenly it was all “SEB how could you let Shane talk to her like that” and “SEB you need to go see that she’s ok” and “Seb bring this with you I’m tied up right now? Kthanksbye”.” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes and doing a nearly perfect impression of his mom.

Dana snickered. “You know, I’ve only met her once and I’d say that’s spot on. Would you like to come in? I just made coffee.”

Originally intending to just drop the items off and leave, Sebastian halted at the mention of coffee. “Yeah, sure.”

She stepped aside to allow him to enter and he dropped the bag off on her kitchen table and began rummaging through the contents. Sirius padded over to Sebastian curiously and gave him a tentative sniff. Deciding that this person had passed his ocular and sniffing ‘pat down’ he head butted the dark haired man’s leg in a nuzzle.

“Oh….cool dog,” Sebastian said, reaching down and scratching Sirius behind the ears. The dog’s tongue fell out in a big doggie smile.

“Yeah, Marnie dropped him off a little bit ago as a present. His name is Sirius.”

“Sirius like in -”

“Yep.”

“Hah. Nerd. It suits him though,” Sebastian commented, still petting the dog.

“I’m going to let that one slide since you have stuff for me,” she smiled, pouring another cup of coffee. “How do you take it?”

“Black.”

“Me too. Just like my soul,” she commented, handing him the cup. If his back wasn’t towards her, she would have seen a tiny smirk on his lips.

“Let’s see….my mom sent you some food. She made a lot of pasta the other night. Some bandages….aspirin for your hand, and maps of the valley,” he said, bringing out all of the items.

Dana’s eyes widened at the size of the containers. “Shit, that’s a lot of pasta. Fortunately, its my second favorite food. Then again, most things are my favorite food,” she said, storing the containers in her refrigerator. Sebastian sipped his coffee with a murmured “Mmm.”

“Hey this is pretty good,” he commented.

“Yeah, its from the city. There are a few things I like to splurge on - good coffee, fast internet, games, and art supplies.”

“I’d agree to that. You do art?” he questioned, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Sometimes...mostly fantasy cartoons and illustrations from my D&D games. I did some paintings, but they are in boxes right now. Maybe once I get time, I’ll get back into again. What about you? Any hobbies?”

Sebastian took another sip and savor the flavor. “I like games too - I GM for our Solarion Chronicles game, um, I work on my bike, I read comics, watch anime -”

Dana interrupted. “Oooh! What’s your favorite anime?”

“Hmm…” he thought for a moment. “I like some of the older stuff, like Phoenix Sphere Y, but lately I’ve been really getting into the Cave Saga X anime they’ve been doing, though I think the comic is better.”

“What?! They made an anime? How did I not know this,” Dana exclaimed.

“You know it?”

“Do I know it - DUH. Every nerd worth anything knows about Cave Saga. The art is incredible. My friend Sasha and I even wrote a really bad fanfiction one time,” the farmer said, waving her hand in dismissive way.

Sebastian actually chuckled. “Finally, I’m not alone in this town. Seems I’m the only one who likes it. Sam thinks it’s boring, but he also has the attention span of a teaspoon. I thought Abby would enjoy it, but she just couldn’t get past page 7.”

“I’m surrounded by noobs. You have to help me Seb, I can’t weeb out by myself,” she joked.

“I don’t know...you might be too nerdy even for me. I’m not sure I can contain….this,” he smiled, waving his hand in a circle around her body.

“Pfft. A likely excuse.”

A silence fell upon them and Sebastian’s eyes drifted over to her computer setup. He walked over there casually and saw her chat program up.

“Make sure to minimize my tentacle porn window, I can’t have the townsfolk thinking I’m a complete degenerate, at least not YET,” she quipped from the kitchen.

Sebastian shook his head, a light blush spreading across his face. He began typing.

“Hey! What are you -”

“Chill. I just added my username. It’s a preemptive strike. Most people ask me for computer help, unfortunately.”

“Oh...okay,” she said leaning over to look at his username. “VoidTear10?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “So edgy.”

“Oh like yours is any better, RavenMage22?” He said, with his arms crossed.

“Touche.”

Sebastian finished up his coffee and set the mug on the table. “I should get going, I have a project to finish up.”

“Well...thanks for stopping by...pass along my thanks to your mom. I’ll repay her...one day,” she said, walking him out the door. He gave a non-committal “Mmm” and put on his helmet. “Later, nerd,” he said as he got on his bike. Before Dana could even respond, he had fired up the bike and took off towards the mountains.

Dana cocked her hip against the doorframe and watched him ride off. “He’s a little quiet….but really cute.” She shrugged and took a sip of her coffee. “I better get changed and get Sirius some dog food before he chews off my table leg. And Abby said something about the mines….maybe I should check them out and see if I can find some cool loot.”

She grabbed her pickaxe, backpack, and phone and stepped out the door with Sirius. He had no leash, but had no problem keeping in step with her. “You’re such a great dog,” she said affectionately, patting him on the back. He looked up and her and licked her hand in response. “To town!” she said, pumping her non-damaged fist in the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning - I myself am a huge nerd so there will but tons of anime, RPG, and video game references in this fic. Sorrynotsorry.


	6. Down into the Mines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana picks up dog food for Sirius and heads to the mines to explore!

The walk to Pierre’s was much quicker now that she sort of knew where she was going, though she did have to stop and look at Robin’s map once or twice. She saw the entrance to the mines, up north from the general store.

The familiar ting! rang out as the farmer entered the store with Sirius in tow. Pierre, standing out the counter, began to sneeze.

“NO NO NO! No pets allowed!” he shouted.

“Oh….sorry Pierre….let me just buy some supplies and get out of your hair….he doesn’t have a leash or collar yet.”

“Fine but just get that animal out of my shop ASAP!” he yelled.

Dana winced and walked over to the pet supply isle. She didn’t really stop to look at anything closely, but grabbed a few toys, leash, collar, and a small bag of dog food. She’d remember to order more of this online for next time….

She sheepishly put her purchases on the counter and noticed that Sirius was sitting still by the exit, as if he knew his presence was unwelcome. Pierre grumpily rang her up and she presented her money to him. She big him a hasty farewell and darted out the door.

“Whoops,” she said to Sirius. “Guess I just assumed everyone liked dogs. It’s not his fault though. At least I’m not allergic to you,” she said, giving the dog a reassuring pat on the side. The doorbell chimed again and she saw Abby running out, nearly out of breath.

“Oh thank Yoba I didn’t miss you. Where’s the doggo!? OH!!! He’s so cute! Can I….?” Abby squealed in excitement. Dana nodded. “This is Sirius. He’s friendly, he seemed to like Sebastian at least.”

Abby reached down and let the dog sniff her. Sirius looked up at her, and licked her hand as if to tell Dana, ‘This one is okay too.’

“Awwwww he likes me! Wait you said he already met Sebastian?! WTF! How’d he beat me to it?”

“Robin forced him to stop by with some food and aspirin after hearing about last night. To be honest, the aspirin really helps. Nothing is broke but….yowch.”

“Well, I’m sorry you are in pain but I have to tell you you are my fucking hero,” Abby said, getting on her knees and ruffling Sirius’ ears. The dog licked her face and she yipped. “Eww! Dog kisses!” she laughed and stood up.

“I was just going to take a quick peek into the mines, want to join me?” Dana offered.

“Augggg...I would LOVE to...but I told Dad I’d help restock the shelves,” she said dejectedly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll save you some monsters to fight for next time. Do you know of anywhere around here that sells swords?” Dana asked, remembering that she should _probably_ protect herself.

“Hmm...oh try the Adventurer’s Guild up by the mines. Marlon runs it...he should be opening up his shop right about now. Here, give me your map,” Abby said, taking the paper from Dana and pointing to a structure to the east of the mine entrance.

“Thanks Abby! I’ll see what he’s got.”

“Welcome! I better head back,” she said, shaking off the dog fur from her outside. 

“Hehe….maybe if I have too much dog fur on me, dad will let me leave early…” she pondered as she walked back into the shop.

Dana adjusted her backpack and pickaxe and set forth north of Pierre’s. She passed by an old, dilapidated building with a fallen sign that read ‘Community Center’. She tilted her head curiously. “Huh. Interesting. Something to explore on another day.” Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw a small green figure dart towards the back of the building - one that looked surprisingly like the one she saw the other day. She shrugged it off. “Probably just a squirrel or something.”

She continued onward and found herself standing in front of another large building - this one much more well kept. The sign said “Robin’s Carpenter Shop.” Dana snapped her fingers. “Oh THIS is where they live! Noted for later,” she said to herself, continuing east.

A bush rustled and an older man with long, unkempt white hair passed by her without a word. She noted the state of his clothes and frowned as he sat down by the river. “ _Poor guy…_ ” 

She passed by him, and he paid her no nevermind. Crossing a small bridge, she found the mine entrance. As she stepped past, she felt a cool breeze that sent a chill down her spine. It gave her a very uneasy feeling. The farmer spied the Adventurer’s Guild cabin and hastily made her way over.

“You better stay out here, boy. Just in case,” she said to Sirius. He barked in confirmation and sat patiently by the door.

She turned the knob and it opened. Behind the counter stood an older gentleman with white hair and an eye patch. He was speaking in harsh tones to another man seated in a rocking chair.

“They are getting out of hand Gil we have to - oh hello young lady. Can I help you?” the man with the eye patch said.

“Um hi. I was actually looking to explore the mines but I don’t have a weapon. Do you have anything for sale?”

Marlon put his hand on his chin and looked her over. “Hmm….you seem pretty fit, but I have to warn you, miss, the mines are a dangerous place. We only allow members of the guild down there and even then we urge caution.”

“Oh, can I join then? I’m Dana by the way.” Dana asked hopefully. “I can defend myself.” she said, holding up her fists in a boxing stance.

“Oh you must be the wiley lady who punched out Shane the other night,” the owner laughed. “Name’s Marlon. But be that as it may….I don’t know….”

“Wow, word travels fast in a small town. What if I promise not to go too far until I get better at fighting?” Dana responded, her smile faltering.

Marlon let out a deep sigh and looked like he was struggling with something. “Alright….here’s what we will do. I’ll let you borrow a basic sword...you can keep it with you at all times. If you can successfully slay 5 slimes, I will let you into the guild. BUT you must not go past level 5...for now.”

Dana’s eyes lit up. “That’s perfect! Do you have any tips for killing slimes?” she asked, pulling out a notebook and prepared to write down what he said.

“Ah well, they go down pretty easy - but we’ve been getting A LOT of them lately,” he glanced over to Gil. “To be honest, we could use the help. Hit them with the pointy end,” he simply said.

“Hit...them...with...the…” she began writing but stopped. “Oh very funny.”

Marlon smiled. “You’ll get it. You seem like a smart girl….if you get overwhelmed, just come right back up to the top, okay?”

“Yes sir!” she said with enthusiasm. The owner shook his head and mumbled, “Kids these days don’t appreciate the danger…” as he reached under the counter and pulled out a sword.

“It ain’t much, but it’ll do,” he said, holding out he handle to the dark haired woman. The blade was somewhat worn and it had a simple guard and handle. But Dana accepted it, almost reverently, as her eyes widened in awe. “ _This is SO cool...it’s like I’m in my own adventure game!_ ”

Seeing her reaction, Marlon sighed again and handed her the matching scabbard. “Remember, no going past level five. Five slimes. Here,” he said, handing her a jar. “Collect their goo in here.”

Dana was half expecting to look up and see a big floating ! turn to a ? above his head. “Quest accepted,” she said, taking the jar and storing it in her bag. “I’ll do what you said and be back in a few hours,” the farmer said, heading towards the door.

“Good luck. Be safe,” was all Marlon said as she exited.

~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Once back at the entrance, she got that strange, cold feeling again. Sirius whined at her side. It was a fairly warm day, but the feeling hit her to her core and she shivered. Stealing her reserve she stepped inside. She entered a small, thankfully unoccupied cavern and spotted the ladder downward. “Wait here for me, Sirius.” He kept whining in response but obliged, not a fan of leaving his owner unprotected.

Checking to make sure her sword as at her hip, she began to descend. 

When she landed on her feet, she noticed the room was dimly lit from the wall torches. She took one step, carefully and stopped. Nothing stirred. Another step. Nothing.

She peered into the semi-darkness, looking for any sign of life. She breathed a sigh of relief. Her steps became less cautious as she explored. The room was full of rocks, and she tested her pickaxe on one. It took a few swings, but she eventually got the motion. Once the first rock was demolished, something caught her eye. It was another piece of rock, but there was copper glinting from it. “Jackpot!” she thought as she raised her pickaxe high.

As she did though, she heard an almost slurping sound. Before she could hit the rock, she dropped the axe and turned. A small, green slime bounced out from behind a rock. She grabbed her sword and almost fumbled it, taking it out of its sheath. The slime bounced and spit a wad of green slime at her. She dodged, barely and saw the goo start smoking on the ground. “Acid? You little fuck!” she said angrily. The slime’s eyes went red as it charged towards her.

Years of playing fantasy games had trained her for this moment. She swung the sword at the slime, but it dodged easily out of the way. She tried again, but with the same result. The angry little blob charged again and Dana noticed that it seemed to have a pattern with its jumps - as it if needed a certain amount of time to recharge before hopping again. Using this to her advantage she waited for the slime to jump, then immediately struck at it.

This time she hit it dead on and it wobbled slightly before exploding into a thousand gooey pieces, covering her whole outfit. “Eww….gross. At least this part doesn’t burn,” she commented, taking out her jar and scooping up what she good. She shook the jar and the green mass wiggled. “One down.”

She sheathed her sword and picked up her discarded axe. Focusing on the copper, she was able to break it apart with one stroke. “Haha!” she called out in triumph. Carefully, she collected the small shards of copper into her bag. 

About an hour had passed and Dana had descended a couple more levels. She killed 3 more slimes, and a few flying bugs that crossed her paths. Her backpack was starting to feel heavy with the amount of copper she had collected.

“Ahh...level 5. One more slime to go.”

This level was more dimly lit than the others, and she tripped over several small rocks in the process. She walked right into a sharp corner and hissed, feeling her jeans rip and the sharp rock dig into her flesh. She let out an unceremonious “Fuck!” before clapping her hands over her mouth. The farmer stared fearfully into the darkness, hoping she didn’t garner the attention of too many enemies. She felt the blood drip slowly down her leg but she remained frozen in place, listening carefully. Fortunately, she didn’t hear a sound. 

Something did catch her eye. It was a small purple stone with jagged edges. She chanced a few steps. A few more. When she was in reach, she picked up the stone and tried to examine it. As she did, a slime sprung up from right behind it, hidden by the darkness. It grazed her arm with its mouth and she felt a burning sensation. 

The jagged stone dropped from her hands as she cursed again. Angry, she looked at the slime with malice. It bobbed there on the ground ready to attack, but oddly not moving forward. Dana took the initiative and grabbed her sword. As she lunged, she saw the reason the slime didn’t move. There were at least a dozen more, bouncing in the darkness behind her. She didn’t take the time to count as she staggered backward. “Fuck! fuckfuckfuck….I need one more...and i want that rock….shit Dana think fast….” she reached into her pocket and picked up a small red spherical device she had found from one of the bugs in the cavern. She had no idea what it did, but tossed it in the direction of the mass of slimes.

There was a loud BOOM! As the small red ball exploded, scattering the slimes. Disoriented, they didn’t see her raise her sword and hit the leader of the pack, standing guard by the jagged purple stone. Heart pounding, Dana gathered the goo into her jar, and the purple stone before darting back to the ladder. She had barely enough time to ascend the stairs when the disoriented slimes began to cluster again. They jumped, but missed her.

She kept climbing, adrenaline pumping through her veins. Her arm and leg wounds felt faint as she kept rising. “Get to the top, get to the top….” she said to herself.

Finally, she made it to the first room and Sirius jumped to her, seeing her distress. She staggered out of the entrance and onto the soft grass, right onto her hands and knees. Sirius barked and licked her face, concerned. He sniffed her arm burn and whined.  
“HAH! It’s okay boy. It was worth it! I got so much good stuff,” she panted, her adrenaline starting to subside.

She sat down heavily and looked at the treasure in her hands. She grinned despite the pain starting to work its way back.

The farmer saw a dark figure looming over her.

“Dana?! What the fuck were you doing?” the voice said, in a tone of utmost annoyance. She saw that it was Sebastian, clutching a cigarette in his hands. 

“I was uh….just exploring the mines. I got some awesome shit, look!” she said, proud of herself. Sebastian’s eyes focused on the rock in her hands and his eyes widened.

“You found quartz….it's pretty cool stuff actually,” he said, eyes pouring over the edges of the stone. She hadn’t ever seen mine look as fascinated as he did now, even when playing pool. 

Realizing he was distracted and shaking his head, he furrowed his brow. “I saw you stagger out of the mines. I usually come out here to smoke. You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing. Just a scrape and a burn. Those slimes just spit acid right?”

“Amongst other things. You are lucky it was just the low level acid slimes. All they do is burn for a little while, trust me. The ones further down are more dangerous. Still, you should be careful,” he offered his hand to help her up.

“And you’d know this….how?” she asked, taking his hand and hoisting herself up.

“Eh, I’ve been down to the lower levels. Got hit a few times and learned the hard way. Took a while to gain Marlon’s trust after I got my arm partially frozen in the ice caverns.”

Dana looked concerned. “Aug….maybe I’m in over my head. I kind of need the money though. All the copper I found will help me get better tools.”

Sebastian sighed. “That’s fair….but we really need to work on your fighting skills. What happened down there?”

Dana explained the whole story to him, watching him nod at the appropriate times. 

He looked thoughtful. “Hmm...nothing much you can do about that then. You are lucky you got out with just those two wounds. You said a dozen slimes? That’s….rare for only level 5. I’d tell Marlon about that.”

“I hope he lets me into the guild...I got his five slime trophies,” she said, holding up the jar full of goo.

“I don’t know...maybe worry about that tomorrow,” he looked down at her bleeding leg and sighed. “Okay, come on. Let’s go to my house and my mom can clean you up.”

Her leg and arm were both starting to throb, and she considered for a moment, heading straight home. Realizing it was a long walk, and she had a lot to carry, she accepted.

“Alright, lead the way,” she said, beginning to hobble across the bridge.

Sebastian gave her an exasperated look. “Oh just lean on me for Yoba’s sake…” he said, wrapping and arm around her waist, and balancing her form against his. He noticed that she was warm, and despite being filthy, smelled faintly of cinnamon. Sirius padded after them diligently. She had to admit, it was easing her pain a little. She turned her head towards him and wrinkled her nose at the distinct smell of cigarette smoke.

Taking it slow, they arrived at Robin’s house about 20 minutes later. Before entering, Sirius walked over to sit under the window, without a verbal command. “At last….thanks Sebastian,” Dana said, fatigue in her voice. “Actually here, why don’t you have this?” she said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the quartz. 

The dark haired man was slightly taken aback. “Me? You’re giving this to me?”

“Yeah, you looked like you were really interested in it. I grabbed it because it was shiny, but I bet I can find more.”

“Um, sure, yeah, thank you...I do like this,” he said shyly holding the stone gently and turning it over in his hands before putting it in his hoodie pocket. The dark haired man was grateful for the dim light hiding a faint blush. “Um, let’s go in,” he said, opening the door for her.

Sebastian had her lay on the couch while he went to get find his mother. After about 5 minutes, Dana heard Robin’s voice shrieking.

“Where is she?! DANA! You silly girl….going into the mines by yourself! Oh look at your leg and arm! Poor thing...hang on…” the red-head exclaimed. Dana’s head was spinning at the speed at which she went from angry parent to concerned, doting mom. Robin darted out of the room, nearly knocking over Sebastian on the way.

“Heh….sorry she is something else,” he said, leaning against the wall with a sour look on his face.

“She just cares,” Dana replied.

Robin came back into the room with disinfectant, bandages and a burn salve. “Always prepared! Living this close to the mines and having this one,” she said, cocking her thumb to her son, “Getting into trouble, this stuff is a must.”

Sebastian huffed and crossed his arms, looking completely annoyed. Dana frowned and was momentarily brought back to her past. “ _At least you have someone to care for you…_ ” she thought to herself but said nothing. The red faired carpenter rolled up Dana’s torn jeans and set to work. Dana watched her carefully, her face neutral.

Robin applied the disinfectant and the farmed inhaled a sharp breath. “Yowch!”

“Oh hush,” the older woman said, rolling a fresh bandage over her calf. “That should do it. Now to the arm, hold it out, dear.”

Dana did so, and she braced herself for another sting, but the ointment was cool to her skin and made it feel less painful. “Aloe works wonders,” Robin winked. “You can keep the tube, we have plenty.”

Dana gave the woman a warm, weary smile. “Thank you Robin...so much. I think I should be heading out now...I need to feed my dog and he’s been so patient.”

“Oh the cute little black dog outside? He’s such a sweetie. Of course. Seb you should walk her home.”

Her son groaned and rolled his eyes. “Mom, I have work to do. I know you don’t _care_ what I do, but it's important that I finish it.”

The farmer frowned. “It’s okay….I can make it on my own. Big strong lady and all.”

Robin crossed her arms. “What are you 5’4” at best?”

“5’5” actually,” Dana smiled. “Really...I have Sirius and I’ve imposed enough today.”

“Well fine. Make sure to rest that leg though and take it easy,” the carpenter fretted.

“Yes, MOM,” Dana said sarcastically, but with a smile. Robin’s eyes twinkled at the response, but said nothing. The farmer headed to the door, giving both Robin and her son a little wave. After she was gone, Robin swatted Sebastian’s shoulder.

“You are something else you know that?” she said to her son. 

Sebastian just shrugged. “Whatever, she wanted to go by herself.” 

Robin sighed in frustration. “You are the densest, I swear. I’m never getting grandbabies from you am I?”

“Fuck’s sake mom,” Sebastian grunted, a light blush forming on his cheeks. “I’m going to my room.” And with that he turned and sauntered down to his basement room. He sat in front of his computer, staring at it for about a minute. He reached into his hoodie pocket and examined the quartz, smiled warmly and placed it right underneath his monitor.


	7. The Rematch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana establishes a routine. Her and Seb have a rematch at the saloon.

The morning sunshine blared through Dana’s window, signaling the start of the day. She groaned. Everything hurt. Her hand, her leg, and her arm. It was going to be a bad day, she decided.

Moving her aching body, she crawled like a zombie to her shower. The hot water helped ease her muscles and she spent an extra few minutes in there than usual. Once finished, she dressed for farm work and went into the kitchen to feed Sirius. He scarfed down his food, then padded to the door. The farmer let him out, and he bolted around in a happy, excited way. Dana couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. She left the door ajar so he could get back in when he wanted.

She heard her computer BEEP, and she walked over and sat down.

**Sebastian** : Hey nerd.

**Dana** : Aug what are you doing up this early? I don’t want to be up this early.

**Sebastian** : I haven’t slept yet….this project is massive. Mom wanted me to see if you are okay.

**Dana** : My everything hurts, but I’ll manage. Tell your mom I said hi.

**Sebastian** : Will do.

She looked at the screen for a good two minutes, but figured this was the end of the conversation. 

As she was getting up to head outside, the screen beeped again. “You have received a gift from VoidTear10.”

Raising an eyebrow she clicked on it. She burst out laughing instantly. It was a basic level health potion and stack of bandages for World of Lorecraft.

**Dana** : Oh VERY funny.

**Sebastian** : What? I figured you could use it >:)

**Dana** : I didn’t know you played. Abby was saying she didn’t have anyone to play with.

**Sebastian** : Yeah but...I don’t play with Abby anymore. 

**Dana** : Why not?

**Sebastian** : Lol….you’ll see. I don’t want to ruin the hurricane experience that is Abigail.

**Dana** : Ah shit. Now I’m worried.

**Sebastian** : Let’s just say, be glad you’re a healer….

**Dana** : Alright then….keep your secrets….in the meantime, those plants aren’t going to water themselves.

**Sebastian** : Cool I need to get back to work anyway. Try not to damage anything.

**Dana** : Just your face next time I see it if you keep it up.

**Sebastian** : I’m shaking in my little space boots.

Dana couldn’t help but grin as she saw him sign off. Her mood improved, she thought maybe today wouldn’t be that bad after all.

~~~~~

Later that day, Dana made the trek to see Marlon. He was pleased to see the results of her success, but not happy at what she told him about the quantity of the slimes. Given this, he let her into the guild, figuring they could use an extra set of hands.

The days passed on as Dana established a routine - get up at the crack of 6AM, water the crops, weed the land, and chop down trees to get wood for a barn. After a few days, she finally put a small dent in the forest, though she was exhausted. She stood on the porch, leaning on her axe and admiring her handywork. The plot was small, but Robin had assured her it was enough for a coop and a silo. She’d have to clear more if she wanted a barn.

Her wounds had healed and she was back up to 100% - which was important in order for her to make as much progress as possible. She needed to get the coop and the barn up before the barren winter season.

She looked down at her shiny copper axe. “I’m glad Clint was able to make use of that ore I found. Makes things a lot easier.”

Afternoons and evenings were a little more low key. Sometimes she would wonder into the woods and forage for flowers, berries, mushrooms, and roots. She was pleasantly surprised at how well the things she found sold - but she wasn’t one to question good fortune. Until her crops were harvested, it allowed her a little bit of spending money. She resolved to try the mines again next week. If her calculations were correct, the added income would give her a little nest egg for the winter.

After foraging, she’d cook and bake for herself, picking up some tips from the local show ‘Queen of Sauce’. Her cookies weren’t as good as Marnie’s, but they would do for now. She had walked some over to Robin, who fawned over her kind gesture, making the farmer blush.

Evenings were spent either watching movies, or parked in front of her computer. She’d played WoL with her two friends and quickly saw why Sebastian didn’t play with Abby anymore - the purple haired girl was very careless and gung-ho...diving right into danger without any consideration to her party members.

Fortunately though, Sasha found this amusing, and Dana had to admit, she did too. Together, their little trio had finished a dozen quests and were planning a raid for the following week. 

Surprisingly, Sebastian even continued to message her. It seemed as though he was more eager to get to know the farmer after finding out they had a lot of shared interests. Conversations were fairly brief and timid - usually him asking her what she thought about X anime or Y show. Nevertheless, she found herself looking forward to these little chats - more so than with her other friends.

Friday night rolled around, and she once again found herself in the back room of the saloon, eating pizza with her new friends. Sebastian was friendlier this time around, and even cracked a smile when she entered the room. Progress, she thought.

She settled into the gaming cabinet with Abby, and they were able to get 2 full levels above where they got last week. Dana gave Abby a high five and they cheered to their talent.

Sam and Sebastian played pool, as per usual. Dana wondered how Sam didn’t get so discouraged after losing so many times, but she had to admire his jovial spirit and overall good nature. This group of people sure was quirky, but Dana liked it that way. Slowly, she was beginning to open up.

“Abby showed me that cartoon you drew of you three adventurer’s playing WoL and it was awesome! How did you do that?” Sam commented, mouth full of pizza.

Dana blushed. “Thanks, it wasn’t really anything special. I have a small tablet that lets me draw digitally.”

“Dude are you kidding? I printed out a copy and have it hanging on my wall!” Abby grinned.

“R-really?” Dana stuttered.

Sebastian huffed. “I didn’t see it.”

“Hold on,” Abby said, pulling out her phone. She scrolled and tapped and brought up a picture of the drawing on her computer screen. She showed it to the dark haired man.

“Hey that’s really good. Have you thought about doing commissions?” he commented, eyes not leaving the screen. It showed all three ladies decked out in their high level armor, standing triumphantly over the corpse of a boss dragon.

Dana shook her head. “Absolutely not, I enjoy it too much. If I made it my job, I’d lose interest. Having an artistic soul is not something that can be harnessed for mere money,” she said dramatically, putting a hand on her forehead.

“I guess I can see that,” Sam commented. “It’d be like selling out too much with the band. We play for fun, but if it became a full time job, I doubt I’d like the stress.”

“Exactly! Hey did you say band?” Dana asked, taking a swig of beer.

“Yeah, Seb, Abby and I all play sometimes. You should come watch us rehearse.”

“I’d love that actually. I don’t have any musical talent but I can fangirl with the best of them.”

“It’s settled then!” Sam cheered, clinking his beer with Dana’s. “Seb, Abby, best performance faces when Dana comes over.?

Sebastian was still looking at the drawing on Abby’s phone. “Huh what? Sure,” he said, handing the phone back to Abby. She gave him a sly look that he completely missed. “Dana….” he continued. “I believe a rematch is in order and you’ve delayed long enough.”

“I’m not one to back down from a challenge….” she smirked. 

The first game began much like it had the previous week. Dana was still a little rusty, but at least managed to sink a few more balls before losing to Sebastian in a particularly epic sweep. She noticed he carried himself with a cool confidence when he played, as if he knew he couldn’t be beat. She envied that kind of confidence and found herself wishing she could have half of that for her current responsibilities.

The second game began. When it was her turn, Dana focused hard and bent over the table. She was wearing a particularly low cut top tonight with a dragon pendant hanging between her breasts. A distraction was putting it lightly.

While she was concentrating, she could feels eyes on her….even Abby’s. Sebastian tried to turn his head, as if sensing a cheap trick, Abby unabashedly stared at her chest, and Sam tried chugging his beer to distract himself. Dana grinned.

Her hips swayed lightly as she adjusted her position, finally making her shot. The ball landed in the corner pocket - a tricky shot from her angle and she put her fist into the air in triumph.

She managed to sink two more balls before Sebastian’s turn. Assuming he would make another long run, Dana went over to the other two to grab some pizza, turning her back to Sebastian. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking that her tight pants were doing wonders for her ass tonight. As the farmer chatted with the others, she heard a loud cursing from the table. Sebastian had missed his second shot.

As he sulked against the wall, Dana eyed the table. One ball left, plus the eight ball. Her palms suddenly became sweaty and her heart rate jumped. “ _Alright old girl. You’ve got a chance to show Captain Edgelord who’s boss. Don’t fuck it up. Two shots. Just two shots._.”

Her first shot was easy, a straight shot to the corner. The ball was close to the edge, so she hit the cue at the bottom, causing the white ball to bounce back towards her on impact instead of in the hole. The move was successful and the eight ball was conveniently lined up in the opposite corner.

“Eight ball, left corner pocket.”

All eyes were on her again. Sam was sitting at the edge of his seat, a piece of pizza hanging from his mouth - as if he dare not chew during this moment and distract her. Abby, on the other hand, had her phone out and started recording the moment she made her called shot.

“ _Fuck’s sake guys, no pressure right?_ ”

She tested the cue, took aim and fired. The cue ball hit the eight ball straight on and it went tumbling into the left corner pocket, just as Dana had declared. She had to blink rapidly….she couldn’t believe it. She won!

There was dead silence for a moment...followed by a bellowing WHOOP from Sam as he came over and grabbed her in a bear hug, lifting her up and swinging her around.

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to see this...its...its so beautiful,” the blond said, placing Dana back down and pretending to wipe away a tear.

Abby kept recording, and focusing in of Sebastian’s shocked face. He looked confused, as if he couldn’t even process that he’d lost. 

Dana gave a dramatic final bow towards the camera and Abby stopped the recording. The dark haired woman approached Sebastian and held out her hand. “Good game.” He looked away as he shook her hand gently. What was seen as a somewhat rude and condescending gesture, was actually to hide a light blush forming across his face. He was rather impressed with her, but he dare not say so in public.

“Yeah yeah, we still have another to play thought remember?” he said.

“Oh I know. But I’ll savor this victory forever!”

Sebastian turned his back to the crew and walked to the other side of the table, hiding a smile.

The last game was a close one, but in the end, Sebastian ended up victorious.

“I’ll get you to buy me pizza at some point, mark my words,” Dana said with a determined glare at the dark haired man.

“Keep trying noob. Maybe you’ll win one day...maybe you won’t. You’ll have to keep trying.”

“Does that mean I’m not getting kicked out this week?”

“Oh please. I can’t kick you out now. You’re the only competition I’ve got. You have to keep coming to saloon night, or else it will just be me kicking Sam’s ass over and over again,” Sebastian explained amicably.

“Admit it, you just like my ass, Seb,” Sam said, waggling his eyebrows earning him an eye roll from Sebastian.

“You mean lack thereof. Sorry Sam, you just don’t have enough junk in the trunk for me,” the dark haired man quipped in return.

“Oh damn, Sam,” Dana said with a whistle. “I’ve got a little bit of the burn salve left if you need it.”

“Oh you’re both just fucking hilarious,” Sam said with a smile, as Abby doubled over in laughter. “Maybe I’ll get butt implants then!”

The four continued making silly conversation, until the clock struck midnight. Yawning, they stood outside the saloon and broke off into separate directions - Sam to his house, Abby to the store, and Sebastian and Dana northwest. After waving goodbye to Abby and Sam, Sebastian pulled out a cigarette and lit it. 

“You did really well...I’m actually really impressed. I mean it. Thanks for a good game,” he said with a smile.

“Anytime,” Dana replied, wrinkling her nose at the smell. “Well, goodnight Seb. This is where we part ways,” she said, heading off in her own direction and eager to get away from the smell. Sebastian gave her a little wave back and continued north.


	8. Fortune Favors the Bold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A different take on the 'game night' heart event for Sebastian.

The next morning Dana noticed Sebastian was online and decided to be the bold one and initiate conversation.

**Dana** : Salty about last night at all?

**Sebastian** : No.

**Dana** : You suuuurrre?

**Sebastian** : Yes.

**Dana** : Well aren’t we chatty today.

**Sebastian** : I’m not in the mood.

**Dana** : Alright, I can take a hint.

**Sebastian** : It’s Demetrius. He’s all on my shit all week about smoking again. How its bad for my health. I hate when he tries to tell me what to do. He’s not even my real dad.

From her side of the computer, Dana rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated sigh. His complaining about his family was beginning to touch a nerve and irritated her. 

**Dana** : It’s not like its the best habit. Smells awful too. But you do you.

She sat there for a few minutes, expecting a reply, but one never came. Thoughts swam in her head - memories of times she had smelled smoke before. Her brother smoked - all the time in fact. He was six years older than her, so by the time he hit high school, the whole house smelled like one huge cigarette butt and it made Dana want to gag constantly.

Still receiving no reply and rather than poke the bull, she decided to head off and do her chores instead. Tending the farm ended up leaving her too exhausted to worry about Sebastian for now.

Later than night, Dana was just about to load up WoL when a message popped up.

**Sebastian** : Hey. I have a quest I can’t do alone, want to team up?

**Dana** : Have you taken off your sad pants finally?

**Sebastian** : Sorry….my family just really bothers me sometimes. It puts me in a mood.

**Dana** : I understand. I didn’t exactly have a stellar experience with family myself…

**Sebastian** : Yeah?

**Dana** : Yeah. Not a story for tonight though. What quest?

**Sebastian** : I need to collect 5 dragon eggs and slay the white dragon guarding them...I can’t seem to get past the wyrmlings on stage 1 by myself.

**Dana** : I’m in, give me a second to load up and get my mic on.

The farmer loaded up her game and turned on her headset. Entering the voice com channel, she greeted Sebastian. “Sup.”

“Hey,” came his voice over the headset, and she had to admit, hearing his deep voice sparked a bit of happiness in her. It was a smooth tone...and it did something to her. “I just sent you an invite.”

“Got it. Wooooo look at that armor. That’s some top tier shit! Your shoulders are HUGE!” Dana complimented.

“Yeah, thanks. Took long enough. I can tell you are wearing high level armor too because you are barely covered. Nice belly button ring. Mithril?”

Dana’ character struck a triumphant pose, holding her hammer out in front of her. “Only the best for Morrow- cleric of the great dragon Bahamut!”

Sebastian laughed into his mic. “Well, please keep my ass healed. It’s going to take all of my spell slots to get through this.”

“I’ve got your back...this isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve played with Abby now.”

He laughed. “Alright, alright, I trust you. Let’s go.”

Their characters warped to the dungeon and they set forth on their quest. “Back entrance to the cave or front?” Sebastian asked.

“Fortune favors the bold...let’s go right through the front,” Dana responded, getting her weapons and spells ready. She put a monitor on Sebastian’s health bar and set forth.

Together they descended down the roughly carved stairs of the cavern. Eerie, ominous music played in the background as they delved further and further. 

“There, the first pack of dragon whelps. Round one is easy, but it doubles for round two and they have a lot of health,” Sebastian warned.

“I’m ready when you are,” Dana said, fingers ready to click the proper spells.

Just as he said, round one was easy, and Dana barely had to use any of her spells. She cast an Aura of Protection around Sebastian’s wizard, and it held out against the second round. 

“Yoba, you are squishy. No wonder you couldn’t do this alone,” Dana commented, casting Heal on his avatar.

“Yeah yeah….the downside of solo-ing as a wizard. Not much defense when you are wearing a dress essentially.”

“At least you have pockets,” Dana grumbled.

Round three began, the final round before the boss fight. The whelps were bigger now and were fortified with little suits of armor. Sebastian launched spell after spell, trying to keep the little dragons at bay and prevent them from striking his avatar. He was mostly successful, but being a wizard, his defense were low and took a few hard hits.

“How can they fly with all that metal?” Dana wondered out loud.

“You’re going to question physics in a fantasy game? How is that your boobs are completely exposed but nothing managed to hit your chest?”

“Touche, sir. Touche. Go kill some shit, I got you.”

True to her word, Dana kept him healed through the battle. She expertly launched shields and heals at the right moments, her hands beginning to sweat. It kept all of her focus, but Sebastian was able to successfully knock off all the whelps.

“This is fucking hard,” Dana said.

“Yeah but the loot is awesome. I’ve been gunning for this helm for weeks. I see the eggs! Let’s go!”

Dana spotted the white, speckled eggs, scattered around the suspiciously empty cavern. She clicked on one and the loading bar increased until it finished. The egg added itself to the total in their group quest. They did this four more times until the quest pinged, showing a checkmark next to Item 1: collect 5 eggs. The second task, defeat the white dragon, was still unchecked.

For a moment nothing happened. Slowly, the sides of their monitors began to crystalize, as if they were standing in a freezing room. Half of their vision was obscured by the frost and they both tried to pan their cameras to get a better view. “Well this is a new mechanic….” Sebastian began, but didn’t get to finish.

Suddenly, the screen began to shake. Out of the darkness emerged an immense white dragon, tilting its head downward and launching an ice beam in front of it, as a gesture of intimidation. It stood guarding the rest of her eggs and opened her wings in a grand flourish.

“Fuck,” they both said into their mics, observing the dragon’s health bar. The dragon began casting its ice breath, but it gave the two enough time to dodge and get into position.

“Alright, so its slow, has ice weapons and thick armor,” Dana began. “I can lower its defenses with a spell, making it easier to hit with yours. Here, take some Ice Resistance too,” the cleric said, handing Sebastian’s character a ‘Potion of Frost Resistance’. 

“Always prepared, wink wink!” Dana said.

“Thanks! This screen is pretty obscured, and if she flaps her wings, we will go flying, so make sure your back is against something sturdy,” the wizard responded.

“Got it. Let’s move before she recharges!”

The two scattered, Dana’s character bracing herself against a rock off to the left, and Sebastian’s to the right. His wizard began moving its arms, beginning to cast a fireball spell. Dana used the opportunity to launch ‘Armor Reduction’ at the dragon, both lowering its defenses and distracting it from her lightly armored companion.

The dragon’s fierce yellow eyes focused on Dana. “Come and get me! I’ve got armor for DAYS!” she taunted, sticking out her chest and having her character do the ‘dance’ emote. With the dragon’s attention elsewhere, Sebastian launched his first fire spell. He aimed it at the dragon’s soft underbelly and the fire licked across the soft flesh.

The dragon roared in pain and anger, whipping her head around towards the wizard who dare attack her. Dana cast Shield on Sebastian, then ran up and smashed the dragon’s foot with her hammer. The dragon recoiled and sneered at the cleric.

“Sebastian go! More fire!”

Focusing, he remained silent on the mic. He cast spell after spell, nearly exhausting his supply, but the dragon was still standing.

The screen paused momentarily as the dragon’s wings began to flap.

“Uh oh….phase two cutscene! Brace yourself!” Dana shouted as she hopped behind a rather large rock. Sebastian wasn’t able to make it in time and went flying against the wall, taking a fair bit of damage. Growling, Dana popped her head out to see where he landed, but she was out of range. She waited for the wings to stop flapping before hopping over to another boulder.

“Hang on, dude. She’s flapping again, I have to wait.”

“I’m good, I still have half health.”

Dana didn’t listen and waited for the wings to stop. One more rock and she was in range. She dashed. Narrowly making it, she saw the wind whip through her characters hair. Waving her arms and speaking an incantation, she watched the wizard’s health bar go back to full.

“Thanks!”

“No problem, now get back there and kill that dragon. I can only distract her for so long.”

“Okay...but um, where’d she go?”

“What ---?” Dana had time to say before the massive white dragon dropped from the ceiling, stalactites falling down around them in a cacophony of explosions. One nearly hit Dana in the foot. “You fucker. Seb I have an idea. I’ve got an artifact potion I can use to paralyze her, but its only got 50% chance of working. I’m doing it,” Dana said before waiting for Sebastian to respond.

She ran around towards the back of the dragon, thankful that its large form made it challenging to turn. She rummaged through her inventory and found ‘Superior Potion of Hold Monster’. She watched as her avatar popped the cork and threw the bottle right into the center of its neck. The blue goo covered the scales and the giant froze in place.

“You’ve got less than one minute, GO! Everything you’ve got!” she shouted.

Sebastian steeled himself, and took a deep breath. He began casting his favorite combination of spells. Bolts of fire and electricity launched out from his staff, and the dragon could do nothing but watch, paralyzed. There was intense anger in its yellow eyes, that shifted rapidly to fear.

Dana came in with a few extra blows from her hammer and they watched the health bar drop. There was only a sliver of health left when the screen froze once more. The dragon broke the paralysis and launched a roar so loud it nearly blew out their ear drums. She turned her massive, spiked head towards the wizard and began compiling front into her gaping maw.

“Seb watch out!” Dana cried as she cast her last and most powerful shield on him.

She covered him just in time and watched the ice bolt bounce off the shield and onto the wall, rocks falling.

Sebastian was ready. This gave him enough time for a final spell and he launched it straight into the mouth of the dragon. The great beast roared and collapsed, its body beginning to disintegrate.

All the remained was a pile of ash. Clicking on the ‘loot’ button, they both received a special item. Sebastian got the Helm of the Ice Dragon, and Dana received a +2 Ice Hammer.

“Sweeeeettttt!” the cleric said, equipping her new weapon. The hammer was ornate to say the least. It was white and blue, with a false eye and massive horns on the hammer, and scales trailing down the handle. She admired her loot and turned to Sebastian.

“Oh sweet horns dude!” she said, looking at Sebastian’s wizard, standing proudly with a huge dragon skull helmet. 

“Yesssss! I’m so excited. This not only gives me extra spells slots, but resistance to cold damage,” he said, not able to contain the childlike glee in his voice. Dana thought it was really endearing to hear him be so happy. She found herself wishing she was there in his room to see his face light up.

“Good job team!” the farmer said, warping them both back to town to collect the gold for their quest. Once they did, they parted ways.

“That was fun, but I should head to bed. #farmerlife.” Dana said with a yawn.

“Thanks for helping me….I had a really good time. You’re a great partner.”

From behind her screen, Dana blushed. “Thanks, you too. I’ll team up with you anytime, as long as there are good rewards.”

“Cool, g’night!”

“Night, Seb.” She said, logging off. She smiled to herself and went to prepare for bed. “ _Well, I’m glad the day ended better than it started_ ,” she mused. As she lay in bed, she couldn’t help but think of Sebastian - how happy he had seemed. The thought in turn made her happy and she drifted off to sleep. Unbeknownst to her, up in the mountain shop, Sebastian was still sitting in his chair, but he wasn’t staring at the screen. Instead he was holding the small piece of quartz Dana had given him and was smiling.


	9. Of Sleepovers and Chickens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana provides a hideout for Sebastian; Shane apologizes.

Another week had come and gone before Dana realized it. Her daily routine kept her busy, and the crops were actually starting to sprout. Nothing made her so happy than the day she noticed the first few green sprigs popping up from the ground. She was so elated that day, she raced over to the mines and took out her extra energy on a few very unfortunately slimes. Marlon was pleased, and gave her access down to level 10 of the mines. Loading up on copper and a few gems, Dana couldn’t believe her luck. Her savings was growing, and it was time to commision Robin.

The red haired carpenter was ecstatic at having another project. She told Dana the small coop and silo would take a few days to complete and the farmer marveled at her confidence at getting the structures up so quickly. While Robin was working, Dana used the opportunity to test her new cooking and baking skills, and while the results weren’t always perfect, Robin was still grateful to the young woman for providing her food and company while she worked. The farmer would often stop by the chat, not long, but enough for her to get to know the older woman better. Dana found out she had a fondness for spaghetti, goat cheese, and an assortment of berries. She even told Dana that the salmonberry bushes were almost ripe for picking and selling. 

After three days, Dana had a brand spanking new chicken coop ready for raising the best chickens this valley has ever seen! At least that’s what she told herself. All she needed now was the chickens. One step at a time...

Sasha, Abby, and Dana became an unstoppable trio in their almost daily WoL quests. They were climbing the ranks, and having a great time doing it. The farmer was glad her friends were getting along so well. Speaking of, Dana had made good on her promise to visit Sam and see the band play. She enjoyed their music, even when the slipped up. She gave them words of encouragement, and also brought a pizza from Gus. Dana even played with Sam’s younger brother Vincent, showing the young boy how to throw a proper punch -- away from the eyes of Jodi of course.

Even Sebastian was opening up more to her. They chatted online constantly - this arrangement was obviously more comfortable for the both of them. It allowed him to express himself more, and their once brief conversations turned into hour long friendly debates about anything and everything. They quested together by themselves a couple more times, at Sebastian’s insistence. He told her it was because she was a good healer, but she couldn’t help but feel that maybe there was more to it….but maybe that was just wishful thinking.

One night, Sebastian sent a bold message.

**Sebastian** : Hey. Can I come over?

**Dana** : Sure, my doors always open. Everything okay?

**Sebastian** : I need to get out and Sam’s busy.

**Dana** : I’ll put the coffee on.

**Sebastian** : I love that coffee. You’re the best.

Dana smiled and saw him log off. She decided to log on a do a few solo quests before he arrived. Soon enough, she heard a knock at the door and Sirius padded over to greet him.

“Come in,” Dana called out from her desk.

Sebastian stomped in, and shut the door firmly behind him. Without a word he walked over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. Sirius nudged his leg and he gave the dog some friendly scritches.

“Make yourself at home, why don’t cha?” Dana said good naturedly. “What’s got you in a huff tonight?”

Sebastian walked over to the couch, but his cup down and flopped face down. The farmer noticed he was carrying a laptop bag that draped over the cushion.

“Mmph. Can I just sit here and do work? I am getting no peace at home and I know your internet is top notch here.”

Dana snorted. “Duh. Sure you can.WiFi password is on the wall. I’ll just be here doing quests. I can put in a frozen pizza if you’re hungry.”

At the statement, his stomach growled. “Actually...that would be awesome.”

The farmer laughed and turned the oven on. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat back down at her computer, resuming her quest. After about 20 minutes the pizza was done and Dana set a plate of pizza in front of Sebastian. He gave her a weary smile and a thanks before his eyes resumed glaring at his monitor, all the while his fingers flew wildly across the keyboard.

“Mhmm,” she responded, grabbing a slice and heading back to her own computer.

An hour past by, with only the sounds of both of them clacking at their keyboard. To an onlooker, this arrangement would seem odd, or awkward at best. But both felt a sense of calm and domesticity that was both reassuring and peaceful. They both did their own thing, saying nothing to each other, and at the same time, saying everything.

Another hour had passed and Sebastian got up to stretch. Dana peeked around and saw his hoodie and shirt ride up, catching a glimpse of his back. Her cheeks flushed a little, her mind wondering at what the front looked like.

“Finally. I got the last error fixed and it ran successfully. All I need to do now is send it over,” he said, relieved and sat down propping his back against the couch. “Thanks…” he continued. “My family doesn’t understand that when I’m focusing, I need to be really in the zone or else I’ll make mistakes that take me longer to fix. Having people always knock on my door or barge in gives me a lot of anxiety….I don’t get that way around you though.”

Dana shut down her game and sat next to him on the couch. Sirius, taking the cue for cuddles, jumped up and nestled himself between the two.

“Well isn’t that sweet. I’m glad I can be a haven for you then. Seriously Seb if you need alone time you can always come here. Yoba knows I’ve crashed at my best friends place on more than one occasion when I needed to get away,” Dana responded, stroking Sirius’ soft black fur. The dog licked her hand.

“I’m glad at least one person in this town understands,” Sebastian sighed. 

“I do,” she whispered, her eyes suddenly looking downcast. Sebastian noticed but decided not to pry - after all, he understood that people need their space. If she wanted to talk, she would.

“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” Dana asked, diverting the conversation.

“Yeah, I could do that. I’m not exactly eager to go home right now. I may or may not have said some few choice words to Demetrius.”

Dana thought about this. Sebastian seemed to really go at it with his step-father, but when Dana met him briefly earlier in the week, he didn’t seem that bad. Really focused on his work, but maybe there was something the farmer was missing. For now, she gave Sebastian the benefit of the doubt and didn’t press the matter.

“Hmmm…” the farmer pondered as she scrolled through the list of movies on her TV. “Your choice. Pick something that screams “Sebastian”.”

“What about a horror movie?” he said pointing to the screen at a cheesy looking B-horror movie.

“I love horror movies, but I’ve seen that one. As with most of them, it wasn’t very good. Buuuuttttt…” she drolled on, selecting another title. “Haven’t seen this one yet. You good with ghosts?”

“Yep, works for me. Though Abby is more into the supernatural than any of us.”

“Wow, look at the shock written on my face,” Dana said sarcastically with a smile and started the movie.

The three of them sat comfortably during the movie, Sirius’ head pillowed in Sebastian’s lap. They made quite the pretty picture. Sebastian’s face had lost some of its harshness as he watched the movie and began to forget about his negative encounters for the day. Dana would steal glances over to his face and noticed it had softened.

The movie ended up being longer than expected, and due to lack of sleep, Sebastian ended up drifting off about 2 hours in. He burrowed into one of the throw pillows and snaked an arm around Sirius’ torso. Both he and the dog began to snore softly. When Dana saw this, she immediately had to grab her phone and take a picture. It was just too cute.

When the movie ended, she gave them both a warm smile and covered them with a blanket. She turned out the light and went into her bedroom. She wouldn’t disturb them, she decided. Besides, it looked like Sebastian could use a good night sleep. She completed her normal nightly ritual and crawled into her own bed, feeling oddly giddy that there was an attractive man cuddling her dog in the living room. 

She could almost picture Sasha’s voice in her head saying “Go cuddle with him you silly bitch!” Dana chuckled at the thought. “ _Nah_ ” she thought, “ _he needs space...maybe one day though._ ”

Feeling particularly mischievous, she sent the picture to Sasha with a caption reading: ‘There is a cute sleeping emo boy snuggling my dog.’

**Sasha** : EEEEEEE. I think you just destroyed my ovaries with all that cute. Also...he’s a hotty. You gonna do something about that?

**Dana** : I dunno, he’s kind of a tough nut to crack.

**Sasha** : Are we not doing ‘phrasing’?

**Dana** : Very funny. He’s just crashing here. Had some trouble at home so we watched a movie.

**Sasha** : You’re killing me here, you know that. You need to hop up on that dick and go to town like a rodeo clown.

**Dana** : FFS SASHA. You aren’t even straight!

**Sasha** : That doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the view...and I bet you could use it.

**Dana** : Sigh. You’re not wrong. Anyway, I’m beat. Night.

**Sasha** : Night farm hoe. Make sure to sow some seed when you get a chance. ;)

Dana shook her head and snickered lightly. She put her phone aside and fell into an easy sleep.

~~~~~~~~

Dana’s alarm sounded at the crack of dawn, as usual. It was taking less and less time for her to stagger out of bed, and her body was getting use to the new schedule.

She looked in the mirror and made an attempt at brushing her hair, but no matter what she did, wild spikes stuck out everywhere. She shrugged, not bothering to change out of her pajamas and dragon slippers and walked into the living room.

She froze immediately. “ _Oh shit that’s right I’m not alone_ ” Dana thought as she looked at Sebastian’s still sleeping form on the couch. Sirius was waiting in the kitchen for his food, giving the dark haired man the chance to completely spread out on the couch, hair and limbs everywhere. His hair was in a similar state as hers actually and she snickered and snapped another candid picture.

Yawning, she fed Sirius and put on a pot of coffee as quietly as she could….maybe if she was quiet enough she could get back into her room before -

“Mmpphhh...morning,” came a muffled voice from the couch. “It's way too fucking early.”

“Morning sunshine. Yeah I know, not my ideal but farm life is farm life. The crops wait for no woman. I’ve got coffee here if you want some.”

Sebastian stumbled over to the bathroom looking much like a zombie, his shoulders hunched. For a moment, Dana thought she was in the clear, but he turned to look at her and snorted.  
“Nice hair. Didn’t realize the anime convention was in town.”

“Oh you’re one to talk. Pot, kettle, nice to meet cha,” she quipped crossing her arms with a smirk.

When he stepped into the bathroom and saw his reflection he let out a groan. “Aug….touche,” he mumbled as he shut the door.

Dana sipped her coffee and closed her eyes, savoring the flavor. She heard a very firm knock on the door. She groaned loudly. “WHY is everyone up so damn early.”

Trudging over to the door she swung it open, expecting to see Marnie or Robin. “Hello how can I - oh it's you,” Dana greeted, a frown on her face. “What do you want?” she said hostily.

Standing in front of her was none other than Shane. He nose was still slightly swollen and his eyes had bags under them. Surprisingly, he wasn’t drunk already, but his clothes still reeked of last night’s stale beer.

“Hi...I know I’m like the last person you want to see right now, but I wanted to apologize to you while I’m still sober,” he said, taking a deep breath. “What I did was….inappropriate and totally off color. I usually keep to myself but I was having a particularly trying day. I’m sorry I took that out on you.”

Dana’s face softened slightly as she sipped her coffee. “I accept your apology. Just don’t do it again.”

“Heh, sure,” he said putting a hand behind his head. “I’ve got something for you as a way of apologizing and my aunt said you could use it.”

“I swear to Yoba if you mean your dick you can fuck right off,” she said hotly.

“What? No - why would I---ok ok fair no, just hold on, fucks sake,” he grumbled and reached into his coat pocket. In his hands he held a small, yellow chick. It peeped as he held it gingerly in his hand. The dishevelled man stroked the chick almost reverently, a move that surprised the farmer.

“Her name is Snowy. My aunt said your coop was done and we both agreed this would be a good start. You have to pet them everyday and give them a lot of love. If you do, they will grow up happy and lay you the best eggs,” Shane explained, holding out his hand to give the chick to Dana.

Her eyes lit up as she gingerly held the baby chicken in both hands. “Awww….she’s so cute. T-thank you...just what I needed actually.”

At that moment, Sebastian stumbled into view behind Dana. “Was there a knock I heard….oh what’s fuckwad doing here?”

“Seb, hush. LOOK!” Dana said happily, shoving the baby chick towards him. 

Shane looked back and forth rapidly between the disheveled looking Sebastian and Dana in her PJs. And back again. And back again.

“Huh….okay well this just got weird. I’m just going to pretend I wasn’t here. Bye,” the man said, sauntering over towards town. Dana shrugged and closed the door.

As she turned around, she saw the baby chick hopping on Sebastian’s shoulder, him looking totally confused and uncomfortable. Dana carefully took Snowy off his shoulder and into her hand.

“He came to apologise….with this little gift from himself and Marnie. He was actually sober, go figure.”

“I still don’t like him,” he huffed, crossing his arms.

“That’s fair...I don’t either,” she responded. “But I LOVE Snowy!” she said, stroking the top of the chick’s head. It peeped at her. “Eeeeeee!” she squealed.

“Way. Too. Early,” Sebastian groaned, smoothing out the swoop in his hair. He went to pour himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. Snowy hopped up onto Dana’s hair and nestled into her spikes.

Sebastian snorted. “Well aren’t you the picture of country living.” He looked her over more carefully, taking in the chicken in her messed up hair, her baggy tank top and pants and dragon slippers. Even like this, he couldn’t help but smile.

“Whatever, what you see is what you get.”

Sebastian shrugged. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing,” he said, sipping the coffee and waking up slightly. “It’s cute.”

“Oh perfect. The dread farmer Dana, scourge of weeds everywhere, viciously destroying the earth - is now CUTE,” she huffed, settling into the chair next to him. Sirius padded over and rested his head on her lap.

“Damn I’m like some kind of edgy Snow White. If I break out into song, shoot me.”

“Nah, I’ll just throw rotten fruit at you until you shut up.”

“You’re a true friend Seb,” she rolled her eyes.

“Yup. Thanks for letting me crash here by the way. I actually feel kind of rested for once,” he remarked.

“No problem. Maybe I’ll turn one of the spare rooms into a guest room at some point when I get more money for furniture. I’m sure my best friend will want to visit.”

“Mmm,” he said, then sighing heavily. “I should get home and try to sneak in before mom catches me and starts asking questions.”

“Why, you are a grown ass man. What are you like 28?”

“25, but it’s not like she would like yell at me….she just gets in my business and I’m sure it would be better for you too if she didn’t know I was here. Otherwise she’ll be bothering you too.”

“Eh, I don’t mind Robin so much….I think she’s very sweet. You are lucky to have her,” Dana replied, finishing up her coffee.

“Yeah….I suppose you are right. She makes the best pumpkin soup for me,” he agreed and stood up. He gave Sirius a friendly pat, went to turn but stopped instead, reaching out a finger and petting the small bird nestled in Dana’s hair. It peeped happily.

“Weird...okay I’m out. See you later nerd,” he said, gathering his things and heading out the door.

Dana’s eyes looked up. “I know you’re too young, but I swear if you lay an egg up there I’m gonna be upset.”

PEEP! Came the reply.

 

“....are you just going to stay up there?”

PEEP!


	10. The Keepers of the Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana meets the Junimos, and the Wizard. She has dinner over at Robin's and makes a bold suggestion.

Before Dana had knew it, the days were starting to get warmer as summer approached. Her crops were growing beautifully and were very close to harvest. She plucked a ripe parsnip from the field and gave it a once over.

“No blemishes, pretty thick. I think this will be a successful harvest!” she said triumphantly. The potatoes and cauliflower were in good shape too. She didn’t lose many plants in the last few weeks, her new scarecrow had seen to that. A few weeks back, Robin had given her the tip to put one up after she saw a crow flying off with a potato.

She turned her head to the coop. She shook her spiked locks and head a familiar peeping sound from the top of her head.

“You know, eventually you are going to have to live full time in the barn and not just at night right?”

The chick peeped indignantly, as if offended that she’d have to leave her soft, black nest. Dana sighed and got back to work. She refilled her water pail and arched her back. “Next up is an improved watering can for sure…and if I could just get lower in the mines I could start making sprinklers,” she mumbled.

Marlon had only given her permission to go to level 20. While this was all well and good for collecting copper and basic minerals, she longed to get to the ice caves she heard Sebastian talk about. Iron was where the real money was, and she was determined to prove herself. In her progress, she found a few rings that she could have sworn made her stronger and attract more metal, but she shook her head….magic didn’t exist right? That would be crazy.

Nevertheless, Dana was happy. She had plenty of time to do all her chores, forage, and go into the mines while still having time to herself and her friends. She even picked up a little bit of fishing. Just last week, Willy had given her a rod and she caught her first fish - a chud - but Dana was still proud of herself. She’d even begun using bug guts she found in the mines to help her - though this was a task the farmer absolutely hated. Still, she reeled in bigger and bigger fish, which was helping both her wallet and her stomach. 

One day, she was fishing by the mines, she noticed the old, homeless man sitting by the bank. She waved, and he ignored her. She moved a little closer to him and sat down. “Hi,” she said, keeping her eye on her rod.

“I don’t know you. Are you trying to pull a prank on me?” the old man said fearfully.

“What? No. I’m the new farmer in town...fixing up the old Edgewood place. I was just looking to do some fishing. Would you like some company?” she asked, hoping she was coming off more friendly than creepy.

Linus looked her over suspiciously, but couldn’t really find a reason to say no or be rude to her. “Alright. My name is Linus.”

“Dana.”

“Dana….the one who punched out Shane?”

The farmer rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s me. I guess I’ll forever be known for that here, huh?”

“It could be worse,” Linus said simply. Dana’s rod gave a tug. “Oh hold on…” she said, struggling with the reel. This fish was particularly wiley and was jumping all over the place. Linus looked at her. “Here, move it this way,” he said, gently placing her hands in the proper place and giving a sharp tug. Finally, the fish relented, and she pulled it in. It wiggled, but she grasped it firmly and took a look.

“That’s a rainbow trout,” Linus said, pointing out the multicolored stripe along the side of the fish.

“Alright! I’ve never caught one of these before. Thanks for the tip….would you like this? I bet it will cook up nicely,” she offered. “Besides, I’ll be here for a while and I hope to catch more.”

Linus looked at the gift and gave a soft smile, “Yes, I’ll take this. Thank you….are you sure you’re not just trying to trick me?”

Dana cocked her eyebrow. “...with a fish?...that you just saw me catch?”

“Sorry, I have to be cautious….people can be really unkind.”

“I know what you mean. I’ve seen my fair share of assholes in Zuzu City. I grew up there and worked as a waitress for longer than I care to admit…” she said gruffly, turning back to her rod. She watched the bobber sit there, inactive.

“Ah, I see. You know, how people treat others less fortunate than them or the ones that serve them, says a lot about their character,” Linus commented, staring out at the lake.

“Yeah...I’ve gotten to be a pretty good judge of character unfortunately. There was one time I served a man the wrong dish by mistake, and he threw a huge fit, screaming at me in the middle of the restaurant. A fellow waiter had the correct dish behind me, but it didn’t calm the man down. Another time, I served a couple and the woman was on her phone the entire time….didn’t even look up at her boyfriend? Husband? Who knows. I’ve got so many stories….oh I’m sorry am I bothering you with my rambling?” she said with concern.

“Not at all. It’s nice to talk to a kindred spirit.”

“Okay...I usually don’t talk about my past so much but I find it very easy to talk to you.”

He quirked a smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

They sat there in a pleasant silence until it was late in the afternoon. Dana was able to catch a few more fish, and stored them safely in her bag. She got up and dusted her pants off. “It was nice hanging out with you Linus. I’ll see you around.”

“Good bye Dana, I hope you have a nice night.”

She walked off past Robin’s house and onto the mountain pass. “ _What a nice man,_ ” she thought to herself.

~~~~

The next day, Dana found a letter in the mail. It was written in a almost illegible scrawl, but said “Thank you for chatting with me. If you get bored of just baking or frying the fish you catch, try this recipe.” It was signed simply, Linus, with a recipe attached. She looked at the worn paper and noticed that his hand-writing was scribbled on an old book page.

“Sashimi” she read out loud. She looked at the recipe and saw that Linus had drawn a couple simple diagrams of how to cut the fish properly. Looking impressed, Dana arched her eyebrows and decided to give that a try later today.

The farmer finished her morning chores a little earlier than usual land decided to forage in the connecting forest. She considered foraging a combination of both work and luxury, as she loved the forest and grew more and more comfortable with the sights and sounds. She walked south, past Marnie’s barn and went west ward, exploring an area she really hadn’t been before. Daffodils grew wild here and the trees tall and strong. It was quiet….peaceful. Birds chirped and echoed in the branches and a warm wind made the leaves rustle. How different this was from the city - with its pollution, noise and unfriendliness. Dana tried to block these thoughts from her mind - after all it was a peaceful place, and peaceful places deserve pleasant thoughts.

“ _Dana_ ” whispered the wind and she whipped her around around, finding no one. Curious, and pretty sure she was going crazy, the farmer trekked further west towards the voice. 

“ _....Dana…_ ” it said again, as gentle and as faint as a hummingbird. As she walked, she bumped into a large log blocking her path. Fortunately, she had her axe with her and made short work of it. She looked past the obstruction and saw an overgrown arch of ivy….and her mind thought it looked like the entrance to a garden. But way out here?

Squinting, she caught a glimpse of a small yellow form darting through the bushes. It wasn’t a slime….slimes for the most part prefer to attack on sight. This creature was different….there was no cold sensation like she felt in the mines. Instead she felt...warm...invited. The farmer moved past the broken up log and her footsteps crunched on the ground. 

Moving as if in a trance, she entered a secret wood….enclosed on all sides by big, thick trees. The branches and leaves formed a dense canopy above her with only sparse streams of light daring to peek through. It was like being in a dream. The air was hazy, but smelled of lavender and fresh grass. Slowly she walked, coming across a small pond and an old statue. The statue was worn and depicted an old man carved in stone. ‘Old Man Cannoli’ it read and she took her hand and brushed off some of the dirt. As she was about to turn and leave, something caught her eye behind the statue. It was the small yellow form she saw darting into the woods. It stood there, frozen.

“Oh, hello little one. I won’t hurt you if you don’t hurt me. You’re not a slime are you? You don’t look like one.” Dana asked, getting down on her knees to be more level with the creature.

It tilted its antenna and shook its head. 

“What are you?”

The creature made a strange sound, forming words Dana had never in her life heard.  
“I’m sorry I don’t understand you….” she said, brows furrowing.

The tiny blob stared at her and closed it eyes. With a POOF a delicate purple flower appeared in her hand. She had never seen anything like it.

“Is this...is this for me?” she asked, focusing on the flower.

The creature nodded and bounced off rapidly to the exit. “HEY WAIT!” Dana shouted, taking off after it. She wanted to at least say thank you.

For a being so small, it sure was fast. She saw a glimpse of it run past the log and headed south. Dana followed, her legs carrying her as fast as she could, but holding onto the flower carefully.

When she turned southward, she saw it disappear.

“...ok...um..thank you?” she said to no one, circling around the trees.

“You’re welcome.” came a gruff voice.

Dana shouted, startled. “WAH!” She turned and came face to face with a tall, purple haired man with a mustache and beard.

“Who...who are you?!” Dana asked, trying to catch her breath.

“I am Rasmodius, the local wizard. I live out here,” the old man said.

“I’m sorry, did you say ‘wizard’? Am I asleep? Did I hit my head?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“No, you didn’t. I saw you running out of the secret wood after a junimo. You can’t speak to them can you?”

“A….what?”

“Junimo...it's a forest spirit. I can’t imagine WHY but I think they’ve taken a shine to you,” he said gruffly and turned to make his leave.

“Wait, so that’s it? You tell me you’re a wizard, that there are forest spirits and then you just up and leave?!” Dana shouted, exacerbated.

“Yes. Goodbye,” the wizard said, smirking at her.

“NO! HEY! Get back here…” Dana said, keeping step with the tall man. “I want some answers. Can you speak to those things? I’ve been seeing them everywhere.”

“I can. And you can too...with the right knowledge.”

“That’s really vague you know that?”

“Fine...I can see you won’t leave me alone and you’ll probably come back here anyway…” the wizard grumbled, reaching into his robes. “Take this scroll, open it and it will allow you to speak with the junimos. I suggest you be good to them….they are peaceful creatures.”

“Why...why would I hurt them? I understand why I’M paranoid, but all the people here are so cautious.”

“You’ll learn in time. I must be off. Good luck.” the wizard said, disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

“What the FUCK did I just see? This is a dream right?” she said to herself, mumbling and opening up the scroll. Her eyes pored over the text - strange symbols she didn’t recognize.

“Well this is great...just gre----wait…” she thought as the symbols began rearranging themselves. She could read it now and her body began to glow softly. Unaware of this fact, Dana read the words. ‘We are the Junimos….Keepers of the forest.’

The glow faded and Dana blinked rapidly, her mind swirling. Was this….magic? She put the scroll away and looked at the strange purple flower in her hands. “Better get you back to the farm and in a vase before Snowy eats you.”

A hostile PEEP! Was heard from Dana’s hair nest. “I’m only teasing, Snowy.”

“...only….how do I get HOME?” Dana asked to no one, a weary, defeated expression on her face as her shoulders hunched. “Well, east is a safe bet…”

It took her about an hour to find herself out of the forest and back to Marnie’s ranch. Sighing in relief, she went north to her farm. When she reached the porch, Sirius gave her a friendly bark and nuzzled her leg. He sniffed the flower cautiously, but paid it no nevermind and walked back to the couch.

Dana found a small vase, filled it with water, and placed the flower next to her computer. She noticed she had a missed message.

**Sebastian** : Hey. Mom wants to know if you want to come to dinner tonight. 

**Dana** : Sure, a home cooked meal sounds nice. I’ll bring something over too. What time?

**Sebastian** : 6 ok?

Dana looked at the clock and saw that it was already four. “Ick, better hurry then.”

**Dana** : Sure, that’ll give me time to wash up and prepare something. See you then!

She was a little sad to leave the conversation there, but she really didn’t want to go over to Robin’s empty handed. The woman had done so much for her, it was the leasts he could do to bring something. But what?

She opened her fridge and frowned. “Damn...no butter...I guess cookies are out of the question.”

She turned her head and saw a large trout she had caught the other day. Remembering Linus’ letter, she pulled out the Sashimi recipe and grabbed the fish.

“Well….first time for everything I guess. At least its fresh. I hope they like fish…”

Dana set to work, putting the fish on the cutting board. Following Linus’ instructions, she cut the fish in such as way that she ended up with small triangles of the fish. She was careful to remove all the bones and scales and tossed the remaining fish parts in a bag to take out to the trash.

Her mish mash of fish rectangles didn’t exactly look aesthetically pleasing. She looked at the clock. 5:15PM. 

“Shit!” she said, hastily arranging the fish. She opened the fridge again and found a bottle of soy sauce. “This looks WAY too bland….” she thought and reached into her cupboard. She pulled out a big bag of rice and a small rice cooker. This little contraption was worth its weight in gold, Dana thought as she set the rice inside for 30 minutes.

“This’ll give me just enough time to get the fish smell off me and head over…” Dana said to herself, throwing off her shirt and bra in the middle of the living room and racing over to the shower. The good thing about short hair, is that it doesn’t take long to wash or dry, so within ten minutes, Dana was dressed and ready to go. She filled Sirius’ food dish and he barked happily.

She did one more look at the tray, and set the rice in a big bowl in the center, arranging the fish around it. In a smaller bowl, she poured the soy sauce. “There, that looks more presentable. I hope its good….” she said nervously. Snowy gave her a reassuring PEEP from her hair nest.

“Off we go!” Dana said, carefully packing the tray in a bag.

It took her longer than she wanted to walk to Robin’s along the mountain path. She wanted to be careful not to trip or spill anything she was carrying. At 6:05 she knocked on the door.

Robin answered in a sing song voice. “Dana! Come in! I’m so glad you got the message, here let me take that from you,” the red head said, smiling broadly and carefully taking the bag from Dana.

“Sorry I’m late….I didn’t want to spill anything. I just learned how to make it today and I hope its good,” she said nervously, putting a hand behind her head.

“I’m sure it will be! We just finished setting the table. I made baked ziti and garlic bread.”

Dana’s mouth watered and she got a strong whiff of the smell from the kitchen, suddenly realizing she was starving. “It smells AMAZING. I can’t wait!” she said enthusiastically, following the carpenter into the kitchen. Sebastian was sitting there, playing on his phone while Maru and Demetrius were talking about science...as usual. When Dana entered the room, Sebastian’s eyes lit up, though he tried to hide his excitement.

“Hey nerd,” he said with a soft smile.

“Hey yourself. It smells amazing in here. I’m so hungry,” Dana said, sitting down next to him with an ungraceful flop. “Hey did you see that there’s going to be a new -” Dana began but was interrupted by Robin.

“Oh! Dana you made sashimi! This looks wonderful!” the red head exclaimed.

“Oh, yeah….I uh wasn’t sure what we were having for dinner and I just caught the fish….sorry if the flavors don’t exactly match…” the farmer said with a blush.

Sebastian looked over to her with a look of awe. “Wait...you can make sashimi? Marry me.”

Dana got a little flustered by that, but hid it well. Fortunately, Sebastian’s eyes were still fixed on the plate. “Yeah, Linus gave me instructions for how to cut and prepare it. I made some rice to go with -”

Sebastian didn’t saw a word, walked over to the counter, grabbed the entire tray and put it on the table in front of him. Dana looked confused.

“This is mine now,” Sebastian said, glaring at everyone else. Robin snorted. 

“Didn’t you know? Sashimi is Sebby’s favorite food,” Robin laughed. “It takes too long catch the fish and prepare it and I am a busy working mom...so we never have it,” she explained.

“I didn’t know that actually,” Dana said, glancing towards Sebastian who had already eaten two pieces.

“Do you like it?” Dana asked softly.

“This is AWESOME,” Sebastian said, shoving another piece into his mouth.

“SEBASTIAN!” Robin scolded. “Will you AT LEAST wait until I get the rest of the food out...for Yoba’s sake…”

Sebastian sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. Dana laughed. “Ok well, I know what I’m getting you for your birthday then. Just stacks and stacks of fish rectangles.”

“Please, do.” he said, nearly pleading.

Maru and Demetrius watched the scene quietly, not really sure how to interact. This was probably the most conversation Sebastian ever got into at the dinner table. Maru, having a keen intellect and woman’s intuition, picked up on Dana’s initial blush, but said nothing. Internally though, she felt a glimmer of hope. Her relationship with her brother was….tense to put it lightly and hopefully this new farmer girl would be the person to bring him out of his shell.

“So Dana, how is farm life? I bet you get to see many interesting species and how they grow differently,” Demetrius said, striking up polite conversation. He, of course, missed the subcontext of the exchange completely. Robin took the pasta out of the oven as set it on the table, followed by a huge basket of garlic bread. The farmer couldn’t help herself and her eyes darted to the basket, eying the contents hungrily.

“Oh, yes….it’s actually quite interesting how the crops grow differently. I didn’t think they would grow so quickly. And it's amazing what some TLC will do for the plants.”

Demetrius hmm-ed in response. “I may ask you for some specimens at some point if you don’t mind.”

“Um, sure, whatever you need.”

“Demetrius - let the poor girl eat….she looks like she’d going to devour the table,” Robin said with a smile, sitting down and gesturing for Dana to go first.

Grinning, Dana filled her plate and grabbed a few pieces of garlic bread. Taking this as his cue, Sebastian resumed eating the sashimi, a little slower this time to savor the taste. Dana took a big bite out of the garlic bread. “MMM! It tastes as amazing as it smells. I really have to learn to cook more things. I am DEFINITELY going to start growing garlic and tomatoes,” she said, happily shoving food in her mouth.

“Good Yoba, you can slow down….there’s plenty!” Robin laughed.

“Sorry, I eat fast,” the farmer said sheepishly. “Especially when it’s so good.”

“Careful not to stroke her ego too much,” Sebastian interjected, shoveling more fish in his mouth. Half the plate was gone. Dana decided to be bold and grabbed a piece off the tray, popping it into her mouth. “Hey, it’s not bad. I’d expect it to be more….fishy.”

“Not if you do it right, which you did,” he complimented.

A light blush appeared on the farmer’s cheeks. “Thanks…”

This time, with her attention at the table, Robin caught it. She smirked internally. “ _Don’t mess it up Seb...Yoba knows you could use a little female companionship._ ”. The carpenter turned her head and addressed Dana. “So, what was life like in Zuzu City? Did you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend?”

Dana nearly choked on her garlic bread at the sudden boldness of the question. “Oh um, no...didn’t have time for that. I worked a lot and by the time I’d get off my shift all I wanted to do was isolate myself and play games. Dealing with people is exhausting. If I had to pick up more broken crayons and mac and cheese from the floor, I was going to murder someone,” she said, diverting the conversation.

Robin grinned, getting exactly the information she wanted. “You must have had some people in your life though?”

Dana’s mouth formed a frown and she looked away. “Well, I have my best friend Sasha and a few others I played Daggers and Dragons with - that’s a role playing game we use to do every Monday night.”

“Is that like that game Sebby and Sam always play? Sebby you should invite her!” Robin prompted.

Instead of immediately dismissing the idea, Sebastian looked thoughtful. “Actually, we could use a healer, if you want to, you can stop by Saturday night at 7PM. Bring some snacks though….Sam tends to eat us out of house and home.”

“I’m not sure I’m much better,” Dana responded, helping herself to another plate. “But sure, that sounds fun. I haven’t done a tabletop in a while and I’m getting the itch.”

Robin nearly squealed with excitement, but to her credit managed to keep her cool. It was like watching a sit-com unfold….as long as something didn’t disrupt the momen--

“You kids and your games. Isn’t there other stuff to do besides sitting at a table yelling about dragons for 3 hours?” Demetrius commented dryly. Robin shot him a scathing look, but then turned a worried face to Sebastian.

The dark haired man huffed. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand. The game is about teamwork and having fun….something you clearly know nothing about.”

Dana winced. “ _Uh oh….this isn’t looking good...maybe I can salvage this._ ”

“It’s true, sir. When I played with my friends, it helped me figure out how to work as a team and have patience...because of it I was able to be more patient with the people I was serving at the restaurant and how to balance my time and priorities with the rest of my fellow waitresses. Being able to organize yourself that way is really valuable. And it doesn’t hurt to have a few laughs now and then….especially when life gets hard…it's good to relieve stress….” she trailed off.

Demetrius looked at her thoughtfully. “Huh...I never really thought of it that way. It doesn’t help that Sebastian over here just gets so defensive….”

Sebastian crossed his arms and glared.

“Hum, well maybe we can play a game one night? All of us? Something simple and team based so you can see how it works. I’ve actually got a really cool game called Infection where you have to work as a team to prevent virus outbreaks all over the world. It’s really hard, but really fun. I’ve only ever lost, but with two scientists on the team, I bet we’d win,” Dana offered.

Maru broke her silence. “A science game? I didn’t know they made those….I’d...I’d like to play,” she said in a small voice. Sebastian rolled his eyes and groaned.

Robin piped up. “Excellent idea Dana! Family game night will happen, right Demetrius?”

“Yes, dear,” he agreed almost mechanically, but there was a twinge of interest at the suggestion. Maybe if he did this, he’d be able to understand his step-son a little better.

“Ok great! I’ll bring it over next time. And more sashimi,” she said, nudging Sebastian who was still sulking. Her face fell a little. She was starting to feel as if she was doing something wrong.

The meal progressed and Robin made polite chatter with Dana, telling her all sorts of gossip about the village. Sebastian remained silent, focusing on his food. Maru and Demetrius joined the conversation and points to say this or that about certain villagers, or certain things about their jobs. Dana actually found the family very interesting and envied their dynamic. There was obviously a lot of tension, but deep down, there was love there and it made her heart ache.

After the plates were cleared, Robin began to clean up. Sebastian walked up to Dana and asked, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.”

“Let’s go to my room…” he whispered harshly, eyes darting over to his mom by the sink.

Dana shrugged and followed him downstairs. As soon as the door shut, he began.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, frowning.

“Do what?” she asked.

“Suggest a game night. That’s just what I need - it’ll end up as a another stress filled night of arguing and fighting,” he said, exacerbated and flopped on the couch.

Dana looked around his room and appreciated the decor before sitting down next to him. “It doesn’t have to be that way….maybe this way they can see things from your perspective?”

He huffed. “I doubt it...Demetrius doesn’t see anything aside from the perspective of his microscope.”

“You should give them a chance...I think it's all just a misunderstanding…”

“I _should_? Isn’t that a little presumptuous of you?” he scowled. Dana’s mind thought he looked cute with that scowl on his face and she decided this was a really inappropriate thought at the moment.

“Maybe….but what have you got to lose? Besides I’ll be there and if things start going south we can just call it quits and go throw rocks at the mountain or something.”

Sebastian sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair but let out a small chuckle. “You’re crazy, you know that?”

Dana grinned. “I’ve been told that before. Are you still upset with me?”

“I’m not...upset with you...I just...I don’t think you know what you’re getting into.”

“Okay good because I’m still showing up for Solarion on Saturday.”

“I hope you do,” he said softly. “I mean...we need a healer of course.”

“Of course,” Dana agreed, not meeting his eyes. A bit of an awkward silence fell. Her eyes quickly darted to his bookshelf. “Oh hey you’ve got the next issue of Cave Saga X! I haven’t gotten it yet,” she said, steering the conversation to safer waters.

“You can borrow it if you want, I’ve already read it. It’s pretty good, though it ended on a huge cliffhanger,” he said warmly.

“SHHH! No spoilers, “ she said, walking over and grabbing the comic. She poured over the rest of his shelf of books and collectibles. Many of the comics she recognized and had read before, in addition to a few titles she had on her wishlist. In between the books were little figurines and knick knacks from various shows and games. She recognized them at once. “You have great taste.” She looked over to his computer and saw the piece of quartz she gave him sitting front and center. She smiled.

“Thanks,” he beamed from the couch. Not many people took the time to appreciate his interests, and he found himself blushing slightly. “Do you...uh...wanna watch something?” he asked boldly, surprising himself.

She plopped down on the couch next to time. “Sure, I’ve got time...I’ve been wanting to start that new anime everyone’s been raving about…”

“The one about the superhero school for teenagers? I’ve heard good things too...hang on I think its on Webflix…” Sebastian said, eagerly grabbing the remote and setting up the show. It was already on his “to watch” list, so it was easy to find. He hit play, and they both settled in to watch the show.

20 minutes later, it ended. “WHAT!? That was it? I swear these episodes get shorter and shorter and always end on a cliffhanger. Fuck their marketing team,” Dana huffed.

“We could watch another one,” Sebastian suggested.

“Can we? It was just getting good,” her eyes lit up and the dark haired man had to chuckle at the eagerness on her face.

“I don’t see why not,” he said, hitting play for episode 2.

They got all the way up to episode 7 before Dana’s eyes started to get heavy. Halfway through the episode, she struggled to stay awake and before Sebastian knew it, she was resting her sleeping head against his shoulder.

Panic struck. His physical contact with women had been...limited to say the least and his mind was wracked with options. “ _Do I let her stay there, do I move her, do I wake her up? ACK….she’s really warm though and smells nice...no...focus...you have to do something._ ” he told himself.

And by do something, he meant do absolutely nothing of course. He remained frozen there, trying to watch the last of the episode, but his mind was unfocused on the screen in front of him. He chanced a glance down and saw her chest rise and fall heavily, her shirt doing nothing to hide her ample cleavage. He felt a flush creeping along his neck and face. Her hair spikes were brushing up against his neck and it tickled a little, but he didn’t have the willpower to move her. 

Suddenly, the screen blared with the ending credits and Dana was startled awake, moving her head back to an upright position. “Whaaaat….did I miss that episode?!” she said loudly, seemingly unaware that she was just asleep on him. Sebastian was not going to tell her that.

“Just the last half. You didn’t miss much, just filler backstory. We learned that the main character always wanted to have powers but wasn’t born with them.”

“Damn...well I guess I can rewatch it later. What time is it?”

“Like 11 I think?”

“Shit, I need to get home. Thanks for letting me hang out here Seb,” she said, gathering her bag and the borrowed comic. “I’ll bring this back later.”

“Anytime,” he smiled. Internally, she almost melted at the look and thought that she would really enjoy seeing him smile more. She gave a friendly wave, and headed up the stairs and out the front door.

When she arrived back at the farm, she checked the coop and saw Snowy bundled up in the hay, sleeping soundly. Next, she checked the house and found Sirius curled up on her bed, waiting for her. She put on her PJ’s and yawned heavily. A flush crept up to her cheeks as she remembered the dark haired man’s smile. It seemed honest and genuine, as if he really enjoyed her company and didn’t want her to leave and the idea filled her with warmth. She pushed this thought aside. It was only a smile after all.


	11. What We Do In The Graveyards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Some erotica, anxiety attack
> 
> Dana has a naughty dream. Later, we get a glimpse of her past as she deals with some of her demons, but also makes a few more...spiritual friends.

_Long fingers caressed up her naked stomach...slowly, agonizingly slowly. The fingertips barely touched her soft flesh and yet it left a trail of fire that began to burn deep within her._

_She squirmed under the touch, aching to feel more but the form above her was delighting in teasing her. Warm, wet kisses touched her jaw and down her neck to the crook of shoulder. She shivered in longing and reached her hands around the firm muscles of her lover’s back._

_His fingers began to creep lower and lower as he moaned against her neck. She felt herself getting hotter and wetter and her hips thrust up meet his hand, wanting more._

_Her lover moved his head to stare into her eyes and brush her dark hair from her face. He smirked, and with affection in his eyes, pressed his lips against hers._

_She knew this face well…._

_“Sebastian,” she whispered against his lips and he smiles, he fingers continuing their journey south._

BEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

Dana awoke with a start, beads of sweat on her face and chest. Her breathing was heavy and her sheets were tangled up between her legs. She angrily tossed her phone on the floor. “DAMN IT ALL….why NOW it was just getting gooooood….”

She fell back onto her pillow with a flop, coming to her senses. “Wait….was that dream about Sebastian?” she said to herself with a blush. “Damn he looked hot like that….”

She looked at her bedside table, and a specific drawer and felt her cheeks burning. “ _It’s not like anyone will know…_ ” she thought to herself and reached into her special drawer, withdrawing a long cylindrical object, the handle of which was designed to look like a sword. “Might as well start the day with a bang…” she whispered to herself and sheathed the object inside her.

~~~~

About 5 minutes later, and feeling satisfied for the moment, Dana felt that a shower was necessary. She did her best to suppress her earlier thoughts, but couldn’t help thinking about how sexy Sebastian looked in her dream without his hoodie on.

She shook the water from her hair as she stepped out of the shower and got dressed for the day. “A nice day full of chores will be a good distraction,” she said to herself.

Of course, trying very hard NOT to think of something, meant she ended up thinking about it all morning. She couldn’t deny that she was starting to develop feelings for Sebastian...but it was so new to her, she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Dark thoughts swam in her head. “ _He doesn’t like you like that...he couldn’t possibly feel the same way. He’ll just hurt you like everyone else has….just like your mom...and your dad...and your good for nothing brother. Why bother?_ ” the demon spoke inside her and her heart began to race.

“STOP!” she shouted to no one and collapsed onto her knees. “I thought I was over this...fucks sake brain, stop with the anxiety.” She rested there for a moment, taking long, deep breaths. Her hands, which were shaking, tried to grip the hoe but failed. She closed her eyes and focused on her other senses. She inhaled and took in the earthy scent of the trees and the ground around her. She dug her hands into the earth, feeling the pliant soil between her fingers. She heard the birds chirping and the leaves rustling. Their song permeated the air sweetly, accented by the sounds of woodland creatures hopping about their business. A small junimo poked its head around a tree, but this went unnoticed by the farmer. Sirius padded over to her, concerned, and licked her arm. 

Slowly, her heart rate slowed and her demon left her alone. She hugged onto Sirius and the dog made the decision to stay with her for the rest of the afternoon.

When she made it back to the farmhouse late that afternoon, she was exhausted - both physically and mentally. She laid down face to the couch and whispered her mantra. “They can’t hurt you anymore, you are free.”

After about 5 minutes of sulking, she heard a slip of paper rustling underneath her front door. Curious, she walked over and picked up the small parchment. It read “Collect us gifts and we will help you and your town. The community center is our home. We are the keepers of the forest.”

Dana furrowed her brow. “ _Gifts? What could the forest spirits possibly want? Maybe some of my crops?_ ” She sat down, thinking hard. 

“Well, I think I have one each of the basic crops and flowers from the forest….maybe that will do?” she considered. “This is crazy….but I guess I’ve got nothing better to do right now. Sure beats feeling sorry for myself…”

She put together a quick list - parsnip, green bean, cauliflower, potato. She went into her storage bin and collected what she thought was the best quality of each crop. “I won’t lose too much money if it’s just one of each…”

Next she gathered the flowers, the daffodil and dandelion. In her fridge she had a spare horseradish and leek, and added it to her backpack. She threw the bag over her shoulder and Sirius padded up beside her, refusing to leave her side. The farmer greatly appreciated this gesture, and gave him a dog treat as a show of thanks.

Dana took a leisurely pace to the community center, but didn’t really see any of her friends around. She saw the blond haired woman - Haley she thought her name was, taking pictures by a flower bush and paying the farmer no attention. She spotted the town doctor, lost in his thoughts by the park. Right behind him was the community center, and rather than impose herself on the doctor, she stepped right up to it and walked in with Sirius in tow.  
Dana was shocked by the dilapidated building. Surely, she thought, someone in the town would have kept better care of this place, after all, the space was huge. She slowly crept through each room, rays of light peeking through the boarded up windows. It had a musty, old smell and Dana wrinkled her nose at it. Dust plumes kicked up with her step, forcing a cough out of her. Despite this, the farmer thought the place had potential. There was a kitchen and pantry, activities room, a boiler, and even a fish tank. There was an undercurrent of energy here, she could feel, as if the building were alive and were trying desperately to make itself relevant once more. Sirius walked around curiously, sniffing at corners and looking for something he couldn’t seem to find. He huffed in frustration and went back to Dana.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a junimo. As quickly as she had seen it, it disappeared into the ether. “I guess I’m in the right place. I guess this stuff should go in the pantry?” she asked to no one but herself. Seeing the skittish nature of the creatures, she wasn’t expecting a response. She entered the room, eyeing the bare shelves. There were cobwebs over the wooden cabinets and shelves and she brushed some off. Taking a large breath, she blew away a bit of the dust.

Gently, she arranged all of her items in a line on what she thought was the cleanest shelf. “Um, I guess I’ll just leave this here?”

She heard no response, just the creaking of the old floorboards as she stepped into the hallway. Suddenly, she heard a loud, almost chirping sound, but it as definitely not coming from any bird she’s ever encountered. It sounded happy and excited. Sirius barked in alarm.

The farmer scanned around the lobby and saw a few junimos jumping up and down. This time they didn’t run. Instead, they circled her two times and with a POOF! Laid out two packaged before her. Sirius growled, but upon seeing that the creatures meant no harm, settled down and simply watched the events unfold.

She knelt down and opened the first - a box full of seeds to start her summer season. In it, she found melon, tomatoes, blueberry and pepper seeds...more than enough for her small plot of earth she had tilled. She grinned.

“Is this….for me?” she asked softly, hardly believing her luck. The junimos bounced in confirmation.

“Thank you….I can expand my crops with these….and save some money,” she said, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude. She put the seeds in her backpack and moved onto the second. She caught a strong whiff of fertilizer when she opened the package. In it was a box of high quality fertilizer called Speed-Gro….more than enough to urge her soil to grow her summer crops a little faster. Again, she felt a surge of gratitude and looked to the junimos with affection.

Seeing her honest response, one of the junimos approached her and hopped onto her lap. It squealed happily.

“If I bring you more things, will that make you happy?” she asked, tentatively stroking the soft, gooey flesh of its head….face...back?

It’s little antenna nodded and affirmative ‘yes.’

“I’ll do what I can. I’ll bring you one of everything I grow….and things I find.”

The junimos chirped happily and darted off, disappearing once more. Storing the fertilizer, she stood up and looked around the room. It seemed...brighter for some reason, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. “This is bizarre…” she said to herself. She briefly though, for a moment, that she was hallucinating this whole thing, or it was a very lucid dream. She looked down at Sirius, who also seemed to have a bewildered expression - a great feat given his limited range of features. 

“Are you confused too, boy?”

Sirius boofed in affirmation. 

“Alright, maybe I’m not crazy if you are in this with me.”

A rustle from her hair, followed by a tentative PEEP confirmed that it was three of them, not two.

Dana chuckled. “Alright, the three of us are descending slowly into madness together. Good to know I’m not alone. I feel a little bit like Alice right now and I’m expecting to see a caterpillar once we leave,” she commented to her animal companions.

The trio stepped into the sunlight once more and headed out of the community center, nobody the wiser to what had just happened. She went south, taking the path by Pierre’s and seeing if there was anything interesting posted on the bulletin board. There was the usual array of requests - fish, various food she didn’t have, precious metals and gems. Maybe when she had time, she’d help out these people….after all it wouldn’t hurt to get into their good graces. Yoba knows what the rest of the town thought of her. She briefly wondered if Shane had kept to himself what he saw at her farmhouse, but also realized she didn’t care that much. As long as no one threw eggs at her house or openly berated her in public, they could keep their whispers and gossip.

As she looked over the bulletin board, Abby barged out of the shop.

“THERE YOU ARE!” she said, excitedly. “I was messaging you but you weren’t responding.”

“Oh hey, I was just taking a walk with Sirius and Snowy. My phone is in my bag. What’s up?” Dana responded. “Whoa girl….BREATHE.” she said noticing that Abby was out of breath.

“Sorry….mom is trying to get me to enjoy her aerobics class but it's just so damn hard! I saw you walk past the window and made an excuse.”

“Oh you guys work out together?”

“Yeah, every Tuesday, unfortunately.”

“Huh. Maybe I’ll join at some point.”

“PLEASE. I’d love the company. Bah, I’m getting distracted. Anyway, I was looking at the star charts and saw that tonight would be a great night for a seance.”

“A….seance? Like with a ouija board or something?” Dana asked, her eyebrow tilting up in interest.

“Exactly. I spend a lot of time at the graveyard, and I don’t know...I always feel a presence there. It’s going to be a clear night, and the right time to contact the spirits….but I need help.”

“I mean, I’m down….sounds like a fun time...and I do appreciate the macabre,” she began. “Wait, did you wrangle Sebastian and Sam into this to?”

“Yep! Sam’s a scaredy cat, don’t tell him I said that, but I promised to cover the pizza and beer on Friday. Seb was harder to convince, but I told him I was inviting you and he said he’d go.” Abby said slyly.

Dana turned a little pink. “Ah okay. Um, what time?”

“Let’s meet at midnight in the graveyard. The town is asleep and we won’t be disturbed. I’ve been out there before at that time...it’s rather peaceful actually.”

“I believe that. Alright, I’ll be there. Do I need to bring anything? Dragon’s blood? Viper venom? My ‘Witchcraft Spellbook for Dummies’?” she asked playfully.

Abby shook her head and chuckled. “Well, extra dragon’s blood is never a bad thing. But no, I’ll bring everything we need. Anyway, I should get back before mom has a fit. She already yelled at me for being on my phone during the class.”

“No problem, Abs. I’ll see you tonight!” Dana said, parting ways with her friend.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, while Dana was shoving leftover pasta into her mouth, she got a message.

 **Sebastian** : So did Abby rope you into this demon summoning too?

 **Dana** : Aww, you scared?

 **Sebastian** : Pfft, please. I’m kinda curious, but I don’t expect it to work.

 **Dana** : Meh, I’m going along with it….it seems really important to Abby.

 **Sebastian** : That’s nice of you.

 **Dana** : Why are you going?

 **Sebastian** : Because I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t and she’ll just wheedle me even harder next time.

 **Dana** : Aww such a good friend Sebby.

 **Sebastian** : Aug you sound like my mom.

 **Dana** : No, if I sounded like your mom I’d say, “SEBBY why don’t you leave your basement and come build a five story townhouse with me, I’ve got the best wood.” or “SEBBY I’m knocking on your door right now but I’m going to barge in anyway. Why don’t you have a girlfriend yet.”

 **Sebastian** : HAH that’s pretty spot on actually. 

**Dana** : Don’t tell her I said that….I’d like to live, plz.

 **Sebastian** : My lips are sealed.

 _”I’d like to kiss those soft looking lips actually….”_ Dana couldn’t help but think. 

**Dana** : Maybe the demons we summon tonight will pry them open, slip into you and possess you, forcing you to become a walking zombie.

 **Sebastian** : And they say I’m weird.

 **Dana** : You love it. You just like talking to someone who’s more fucked up than you.

 **Sebastian** : Much as I hate to admit it….sure.

Dana hesitated for a moment before sending a heart emoji.

 **Dana** : <3

There was a brief pause, then she saw that Sebastian was typing.

 **Sebastian** : Hey want to run a dungeon real quick before we raise the dead?

Dana let out a sigh of relief she didn’t realize she was holding.

 **Dana** : Yeah sure, I’ll send you an invite.

The next couple hours passed amicably as the two fought their way through a mid-level dungeon. Dana was cracking jokes every other minute and Sebastian couldn’t help but laugh at her observations.

“Who designed this dungeon? Ants? Why is everything so tiny,” she said, breaking open a few pots and boxes that lay scattered about. She picked up a few coins and pressed onward.

“Probably goblins, they are vertically challenged, just like you.”

“Um excuse me, I’m 5’5”,” she huffed into her microphone.

“Whatever you say, shortstack.”

“FIGHT ME. You aren’t that much taller than me Seb.”

“I am a respectable 5’9”, thank you,” came the response. 

“You’re just lording your height over me because your stupid hat is 2 feet tall.”

“Hey! It’s an awesome hat!” he exclaimed, his character pointing to his previously acquired dragon skull.

“Yeah, yeah.”

At the end, they were successful at their dungeon run, and lost track of time. 

“Shit! It’s already 11:30, better get ready to bust some ghosts or else Abby will never forgive me for flaking out,” Dana said, hurriedly logging out.

“Alright, see you there,” Sebastian said before logging out entirely.

~~~~~~~

At midnight on the dot, the four friends met in the cemetery. Sam looked a little spooked already, and they hadn’t even started yet. Abby laid out the board and lit a few candles.

“Hush, Sam. Nothing is going to hurt you...Yoba’s sake. Do you think any of the spirits of this town have a murderous vendetta?” Abby said firmly, sitting cross legged, her back against a gravestone.

“How do you know they _don’t_?” Sam asked, concerned, but sat down heavily next to Abby.

“Hush children, you are loud enough to wake the dead,” Dana quipped.

“You’re the worst you know that?” Sebastian said with a small smile. Dana shot him finger guns as a response.

“Can we PLEASE get started?” Abby said, clearly frustrated that her friends we not taking this seriously.

“Okay okay, Abby what do we do?” Dana asked.

“We each grab the dial, and I’ll try to talk to the spirits,” the purple haired girl explained.

“Seems simple enough,” Dana said, taking her seat. Sebastian followed, completing the circle.

“Alright, let’s hold hands while I read the initial incantation,” Abby said, putting a torn piece of crumpled paper in front of her. She smoothed it out and took Sam’s and Dana’s hands. Dana in turn, laced her fingers with Sebastian’s. She expected to it to be cool, like the rest of his demeanor, but it was surprisingly warm and soft. Abby began to read the enchantment but Dana’s mind was elsewhere. She didn’t really hear the words Abby was saying, but eventually came to and realized no one else was holding hands except her and Sebastian.

Flushing slightly, and grateful for the dark, she let go of his hand. 

“Now the dial,” Abby continued. Each of the four placed a hand on the dial and Abby began.

“Is there anybody in this graveyard with us?”she said in a clear voice.

Nothing happened. The four looked at each other and Abby looked disappointed. “Maybe you need to ask a different question?”

“Alright. Ahem. Are there any spirits in this graveyard that wish to talk to us?” Abby stated.

Nothing happened. “Well shi-” Abby began but heard a rustling in the bushes. Sam jumped back from his seated position, looking ready to run at a second’s notice.

“Oh for the love of Yoba…” Dana said, getting up. “It’s probably just a squirrel or something.”

She went over to the bush, and saw it rustle again, as if something behind it was shaking. The farmer peered over and saw a rush of darkness move from the bush to the one 5 feet away.

“What the….hello? Who’s there? We won’t hurt you…” she attempted to communicate.

The three others all stood now, holding back. “Dana be careful…” Abby warned.

Dana waved her hand dismissively towards her friend. “I promise….we won’t hurt you. We just want to know who you are.”

A small, black curly q of dark matter poked up from the bush. “Is not a trap?” the form asked in a garbled voice.

“We don’t have anything to trap you with….we were just hear trying to talk to the spirits.”

“That toy won’t work,” the voice said.

“Oh….well it’s all in good fun. Will you show us your face? We will stand back here.”

The shadow began to move. Dana watched as a short, black mass stepped aside from the bushes. It was nearly see through, with holes for what appeared to be eyes and a mouth….except where there should be organs, was nothing, just a grim outline of a distorted face.

“Oh shit that’s a shadow brute….they live in the mines in the lower levels…” Sebastian said, regretting not bringing his sword.

“What?” Dana said turning to the form. “You live in the mines? You’re not going to hurt us are you?” she said with fear in her voice, suddenly regretting this decision.

“N-n-no….those that live in the mines are….friends... but Krobus...thats me...doesn’t like the mines. Krobus don’t mind humans...only observe humans at night and from the sewers. Krobus is curious is all. Just want to be left in peace…” the form said, his voice garbled and somehow ethereal.

“So YOU are what I’ve been sensing at night here?” Abby asked, disappointed that he wasn’t some sort of interesting ghost.

“Krobus has seen the purple haired one many times. Krobus does not bother purple haired female,” Krobus stated, still acting like he had to defend himself.

“You don’t trust humans do you, Krobus?” Dana asked, curiously.

“The dark haired female is observant. Now Krobus must find new place to call home,” the voice said sadly.

“We won’t tell anyone, promise. I think you are pretty nice,” Dana said, attempting to soothe the shadow creature.

“Krobus will reward you if you do not tell….if you visit in the sewers, I can sell you valuable wares…” the shadow said.

“Deal. Do we shake hands...or…?” Dana let the question hang there.

“Unknown what this means. Krobus will take your word. If anyone other than you four visit Krobus, Krobus will leave this place for good.”

“Ok….well….um...I guess it was nice talking to you? Are you going to stay in the bushes all night?” Dana asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Krobus will observe from the shadows as always,” he said, disappearing into the bush.

“Um, okay cool.” Dana said, shaking her head and returning to her friends. “This town is fucking weird, you guys.”

Sam was standing behind Abby, making unmanly noises. Abby herself had her arms folded over her chest, looking bitter. Sebastian looked ready for battle….minus the weapon. He was posed in such a way that he looked like he would pounce if Krobus made a single step towards Dana.

“What a waste of time,” Abby said. “I thought we’d get to speak with a real spirit.”

“A shadow-man doesn’t count? He looks like he is made out of stars. That’s pretty neat, right?”

“You don’t get it Dana. Shadowpeople are a thing….he said it himself they live in the mines. But no one in this town has talked to a SPIRIT before. I was hoping…” she trailed off looking dejected.

Dana stepped forward and hugged her friend. “What about forest spirits?” the farmer asked.

“You mean the Junimo? They are a local legend, but no one has ever seen them...so most people just assume it was a myth invented by the wizard to help protect the forests.”

Dana considered her words carefully and thought about her own experiences with the Junimo. “Hey, I want to show you guys something. It’s still early, let’s go to the community center.”

“I’m all for getting out of this creepy graveyard,” Sam began, “But I don’t know which place is LESS creepy.”

“Last time we were there, you tried to pry open one of the boarded up windows and sneak in, Sam,” Sebastian reminded him.

“I know, but it wasn’t midnight,” Sam explained.

“The front door is open you know, I was in there earlier. It’s a shame it is in such disrepair...the space is great.” Dana said casually, to the shocked look of her friends.

“But...that place has been locked for years, I don’t understand…” Abby said. 

“Come see for yourself,” was all the farmer said as she began the walk to the community center. They passed by Pierre’s and up the stone steps and before long, they were standing outside the old building. Dana reached out and turned the knob, and to Abby’s shock, it opened right away.

She entered the main room, and all was quiet and still. Passing by the pantry, she noticed her items were gone, so she turned and went back to the room with her friends. They were each looking at different walls, taking in the site. 

“It’s worse than it looks from the outside…” Sebastian commented.

“Yeah, it’s not great….but now that the door is open, maybe I can come here to think,” Abby said, more to herself than anything. Not surprisingly, she felt at home in the building. Always being an oddball, she never really bonded with many of the townsfolk - apart from Sam, Sebastian, and now Dana. The building looked as if she felt sometimes, neglected and morose.

Dana poked her head in a few other rooms, and was disappointed at not seeing any of her new acquaintances. She tried a different approach.

She stood in the center of the room and addressed no one. “Keepers of the forest. I have brought some friends of mine...I think they can help bring this community back together. But we want to see you….know you are real.”

The three others looked at her as if she was crazy. “Dana, have you been drinking?” Sam asked, but she ignored him.

“We won’t hurt you, we want to say hello,” she continued.

At first nothing happened. The floors creaked and the wind began to whistle through the windows. Traces of moonlight were able to pass the boarded up windows….the only light they had. Her three friends looked concerned….more for her wellbeing than their safety. Dana herself was starting to think she had imagined the whole encounter earlier.

Defeated, she took a step towards the group. “I’m sorry, I thought -” Dana began but was interrupted by a faint chirp. The farmer looked down and saw a small green junimo bounce against her leg, as if wanting to be lifted. Dana beamed and picked up the little guy. He green form held up his hands in triumph.

The other three stood in various stages of shock. Sebastian tried to play it cool and not look astounded, but the sparkle in his eyes gave him away. Abby’s mouth was unabashedly hanging open and Sam was no better. 

“Hi there. These are my friends, Sebastian, Abby and Sam. They live in town. I think they can help me get your gifts.”

The junimo chirped happily.

“How….” was all Abby could say. “It’s so CUTE! I didn’t think the forest spirits would be so adorable.”

Dana could swear she saw the little green figure’s cheeks get darker, as if blushing. It sprung from Dana’s hand and landed on Abby’s shoulder, surprising her.

“Oh! Hello!” Abby said excitedly, her mood improving dramatically. The little one bounced on her shoulder, down to the ground, and then disappeared.

“Did we just see what I think we saw?” Sam asked, still in a state of disbelief.

“If by that you mean the junimos, then yeah,” Dana explained casually.

“I don’t think you understand what this means…” Abby started. “The junimos are legend...they don’t show themselves to people….if they are, that means you are special and are destined for great things.”

Dana raised an eyebrow. “Uh huh. Or, since I’m new to the town, they thought I’d have a shot of actually getting them what they want - which right now just seems like random plants. Think about it….the rest of the town avoids this place...who better to ask then a new face with a fresh perspective?”

Abby did not seem convinced by Dana’s logic. “You don’t….nevermind….this certainly turned my night around...I’m excited I got to see one in person! Only the four of us can say that!” the purple haired girl said excitedly. Dana smiled warmly at her, happy to have helped improve their mood.

“I think we shouldn’t brag about it though...they are shy creatures and they must have saw good in your three to show themselves tonight. We should keep it a secret for now...just us four,” Dana suggested.

“Yeah, I’m cool with that. No one would believe us anyway,” Sam stated matter-of-factly.

“Ooohh we are like a secret society now...like The Midnight Forest Society!” Abby suggested and Dana chuckled, watching Sebastian roll his eyes at the name.

“I’ll have to draw us up a team logo,” Dana encouraged her friend.

“Please do!” Abby laughed.

With their spirits high, the four friends left the community center, the sound of their laughter echoing in the empty corridors.

Abby was still buzzing with energy, but Sam was fading fast. “Alright I’m wiped, I’ll see you guys later,” Sam said, yawning and heading back to his house. Abby followed suit, almost skipping back to Pierre’s once again leaving Dana and Sebastian alone.

Sebastian, who hadn’t said much during the encounter, spoke softly, “I agree with Abby you know.”

“Agree about what?”

“That you are special...and destined for great things,” he said casually.

Dana’s face got hot very suddenly. “That’s nice of you to say...but I still think maybe I just showed up at the right place at the right time.”

“You think too little of yourself,” Sebastian said, pulling out his box of cigarettes. “I’m going to smoke before I head home. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye Seb,” she said softly and turned her back to head home. As Sebastian popped the cigarette into his mouth, he turned and watched her leave, his eyes lingering on her departing form.


	12. Of Ugly Dresses and Board Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The flower dance approaches and Dana decides to try it out. The next day is game night with Robin and her family, but what's got Sebastian in a mood?

“What in Yoba’s name is this monstrosity?!” Dana practically yelled to herself, holding up a frilly white garment she had just received in the mail. Sirius padded over and sniffed the dress, a look of disgust and disinterest on his face as he walked back inside, as if to say ‘That is your problem.’

In the package was a note from Emily. It read, “Dear Dana, The Flower Dance is tomorrow, and being so new to town you probably don’t know about the tradition. All the eligible men and women perform a special dance and it would be wonderful if you could join us this year. The steps are easy and I’m sure you’ll be able to pick it up quickly. If not, no one will care. Enclosed is the traditional dress - I wasn’t sure of your exact size, but thought you looked close to Penny in form, so I made this for you. I’d love it if you would wear it tomorrow! So grab a partner and head to the clearing southwest of your farm! See you then! - Emily”

Dana let out a long groan. “Whyyyyyyy. Now I HAVE to or else Emily will be disappointed. Bah,” she said in a huff. “Did they really have to go with fluffy tulle skirts? All these flowers? It’s so….NOT me!”

She went inside, laying the dress on her bed and messaged Abby.

**Dana** : I just got a puffy, white marshmallow dress in the mail from Emily.

**Abby** : Auuuggg...the flower dance.

**Dana** : You going? I assume everyone is being press ganged into this?

**Abby** : I feel like shit….I haven’t been able to get out of bed all day. Fever and such. So probably not...I’m sure Seb will be ecstatic. He HATES it more than I do, but we usually pair together for convenience.

**Dana** : Oh damn, sorry you aren’t feeling well. You need anything? Soup or company?

**Abby** : I’m good, I just need to sleep. Mom’s been tending to me, but thank you <3

**Dana** : Okay get some sleep….lucky devil.

Dana left her computer and turned towards the dress. She sighed heavily. “This town will be the death of me….”

~~~~~~

The next day came a little too quickly. Today was the last day of spring, and that meant harvest time. The plants uprooted easily and were stored safely in her box by 9am. She made sure her pets were attended to, showered quickly, and dried her hair. 

She opened up her makeup kit - it had been collecting a little bit of dust - and decided what the hell...she might as well look good today. She applied some pastel colored eyeshadow - a rare thing for her, followed by her traditional eyeliner. She finished with dark black mascara, a bit of powder foundation and a light red lip color. Satisfied with her choice, she turned her attention to her hair. She slicked down her black locks so that they were laying more flat against her head. Using some gel, she smoothed out the look so that her hair looked sleek.

Lastly was the dress. She hoped and prayed to Yoba that it wouldn’t fit. Unfortunately, it fit like a glove except for one area - her chest. She was more busty than Penny and the frilly lace acted like a corset on her chest, bumping up her breasts and putting them on display. It took a bit of squeezing to get them in place.

“Oh for Yoba’s sake….I don’t mind a little bit of cleavage but I look like little whore on the prairie!” she said, exacerbated and throwing her hands in the air. “Well...this is as good as it’s going to get.”

She threw on a pair of low rise brown boots, and briefly wondered if she should bring a wicker basket and a sun hat with her. She left the farm, heading south and then west as Emily had instructed. She noticed the previously blocked off pathway was open and decorated with streamers. 

She walked onward, hearing the crowd before she could see it. She saw a little shop stall run by Pierre and gave him a pleasant wave. She scanned the area, looking for her friends, a slight flush creeping up her face as she was reminded of what she was wearing.

Sebastian and Sam stood off the the side. Sam was practicing his dance move by himself and Sebastian was watching him, scowling. Both were wearing powder blue jumpsuits, which while tailored, looked absolutely old-fashioned and ridiculous, especially when you mix it with their hair styles.

“I’m going to sweep Penny off her feet this year,” Sam said, stretching his legs out.

“Sure you will Sam. Maybe one day you’ll get the balls to ask her out,” Sebastian smirked.

“Pfft, you’re one to talk,” Sam said, rolling his eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean? As if I’d ask anyone to dance at this stupid thing,” the dark haired man said, crossing his arms. “I got lucky Abby is sick today...I’m off the hook.”

“You sure you don’t want to dance?” Sam weedled, catching a glimpse of Dana across the field and heading towards them. With his back turned, Sebastian didn’t notice her approach.

“I’m sure,” he concluded.

“Sure about what?” the farmer said, catching up to her two friends. “Sure that these outfits are absolutely bonkers and terrible?”

Sebastian turned around and he words died on his tongue. The dress was, of course, horrendous, but it was showcasing her assets rather well. Furthermore, she was cleaned up and wearing more makeup than usual. The dark haired man was actually shocked she was able to tame her hair in that way….and overall she looked stunning, especially with that big smile on her face.

“Just awful,” he finally able to say, albeit with a slight pinkness to his cheeks. “You make it look good though,” he said shyly.

“Thanks! Emily made it for me….it’s made well, but totally not my style. I feel like a southern debutante. Shame Abby couldn’t be here to see this….I’m sure she’d get a kick out of seeing me squeezed into this.”

_I’m enjoying seeing you squeezed into that dress…._ Sebastian thought, but shook his head to clear his mind.

“Well it means I’m off the hook,” he recovered quickly.

“Hmm, well I don’t have a partner, do you want to dance with me?”

 

Sebastian was surprisingly torn at the question. He stumbled, but put up his defenses immediately. “As if...I’m looking forward to just watching this year.”

Dana shrugged, taking no offense but feeling slightly disappointed. “Suit yourself. I’m going to go get some punch, I’ll be right back.”

After she had walked across the field, Sam punched Sebastian in the arm. “You’re a dense fucker you know that?”

“What? This dance is stupid.”

The blond rolled his eyes. “This could be your big moment….you’re chance to shine and sweep her off her feet!”

Sebastian blushed. “Oh please Sam, get off your matchmaking high horse….you are as bad as my mom. She doesn’t see me like that and I’m not going to pressure her.”

“I’m not so sure about that….I’ve seen the way she smiles around you,” Sam commented, noticing the blush on his friends face.

“You’re crazy,” Sebastian said.

~~~~~~~

Over at the punch table, Dana had just finished pouring her drink when heard someone clear their throat.

She turned and came face to face with Shane. He was wearing the same suit as the others, but his tie was disheveled and he had a distinct 5 o’clock shadow despite it being only 11am.

“Shane...how can I help you?”

“I wanted to see how you are doing on the farm. Snowy doing good?” he asked awkwardly.

“Yeah, she’s acclimated really well. She was sad not to have her usual nest today, but she’s liking the barn more and more these days as she grows up,” Dana said pleasantly. 

“That’s good to hear, chickens are very special creatures. They need lots of love and attention,” he commented.

“I’ve noticed. Thank you and your aunt for her….I’m planning on buying a few other chicks to keep Snowy company soon.”

“Sounds good. This event is something else isn’t it? Are you being dragged into the dance too?”

“Well, Emily made me the dress, but I don’t have a partner and also don’t know what I’m doing,” she said, looking sheepish.

From the background, Marnie was glaring at Shane, telling him with her eyes “You better do it.” He gulped, not wanted to face his aunt’s wrath.

“Do you want to dance with me? It's simple enough,” he suggested.

Dana paused to consider for a moment. On the one hand, her and Shane had a tumultuous relationship at best. However, he’d mostly just been avoiding her the last few weeks, and was attempting to make amends. Another point to consider was Emily’s feelings. Dana spotted the blue haired girl chatting happily with her sister Haley, and got the impression that seeing her dress in action would make the seamstress happy. 

Sighing, she agreed. “I think with all the peer pressure we’re getting from literally everyone else in the town, I could humor them. Sure, but don’t be upset if I step on your feet.”

Shane grunted in response. He didn’t particularly like dancing, but this would make his Aunt happy and would help him get past his earlier transgressions. 

Before conversation could begin again, Mayor Lewis took to the dance stage.

“Alright my lovely ladies and gentlemen. It is the time you’ve all been waiting for, the traditional flower dance itself!” Lewis said excitedly. The older women in the audience hooted and cheered.  
“Now, if our lovely couples will step onto the dance floor, we can get this party started!” the mayor said, stepping aside and letting the dancers take to the floor.

From the side, Sam turned. “That’s my queue man! I’ve gotta go get Penny. Oh hey, is that Dana walking up with SHANE?!” he said, scandalized. Sebastian turned his head and his face fell. Shane was leading Dana to the dance floor, his hand guiding hers. A range of emotions crossed his face and he suddenly felt rather hot. Sam gave him a concerned look, but left to go dance with Penny.

On the dance floor, Dana felt Shane take her waist and hold her pretty far in front of him. She placed hers on his shoulder and their other hands locked together. “Is this as weird for you as it is for me?” Dana whispered. 

“Probably more. Here, I step forward first, then you….then we separate and mirror each other doing a series of moves. Just follow my lead…”

The music began and Dana stepped backward as Shane stepped forward. She commended herself for getting at least the first step right. She stepped forward and then Shane spun her around, mimicking the rest of the couples. Dana was so focused on not tripping, that her moves were a little stiff, and she didn’t realize when he had let go of her waist. He gave her a harsh look and whispered, “Go stand over there with the girls.”

She turned and saw the other ladies forming a single line and hurried to join them. The men began doing a series of movements by themselves and the girls took a turn duplicating the move. Dana had to admit that this was the most ridiculous thing she’s ever participated in, but it was so bad it was _fun_. She noticed that the other girls were smiling, and their positive attitude became infectious. Determined to do a good job, the next time her and Shane joined hands, her moves were much smoother.

“See, you’re getting it. Not so bad,” Shane commented.

From the side of the dance floor, unbeknownst to the farmer, Sebastian was seething. His blood was boiling seeing Dana dance with Shane. And dare he say it….she looked like she was _enjoying_ it. Why him of all people? He couldn’t understand it. His eyes averted themselves from the scene and saw his mother chatting with Marnie, not looking too happy herself. Curious, he crept a little closer to overhear them.

“I can’t believe you got him to ask Dana to dance. I thought for sure she was going to ask Sebby,” Robin said in a huff.

Marnie grinned. “I told Shane he’s got to make it up to her somehow...and not just today. He’s got to really shape up for the good of the town. Besides, she DID ask your son and he turned her down...I saw the whole thing which made me give Shane an extra boost.”

Robin winced. “ Damn it Sebby….” she thought to herself, taking a glance over at her son who was pretending to be completely disinterested and leaning against a tree. He wasn’t doing a very good job, and the red-haired woman could see his eye twitching. Before the dance was even over, he decided he had had enough and pulled out his cigarettes, hastily lighting one before turning and heading east and back towards the mountain. Robin didn’t bother to stop him, but looked both concerned for him and frustrated.

The dance finally ended and there was a light sheen of sweat on Dana’s brow. “Alright! I didn’t screw that one up too much. Thanks for the dance, Shane. This wasn’t as terrible as I thought it was going to be.”

“I’ll….take that as a compliment I guess?” he chuckled. “Anyway, I’m a one dance kinda guy, so I’m done. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day,” he said, stepping away, and removing a flask from his breast pocket.

“You too,” the farmer said, heading back to the side of the dance floor, where Sam was talking with Penny. “Nice job you two...you’re so fluid together...I was jealous!”

Penny blushed at the compliment. “We usually pair up. We’ve done this so many times,” she admitted shyly. Sam was beaming.

“Don’t sell yourself short! You are a lovely dancer Penny! No one is as soft and graceful as you,” Sam said honestly, earning a blush from the young woman.

Suddenly feeling like she was intruding, Dana decided to maker herself scarce. She looked around and noticed Sebastian wasn’t there. “Where’d Seb go?” She asked.

“No clue...but he hates this event so he probably went back home,” Sam shrugged.

“Eh, that’s not a bad idea….I’ve still got some stuff to do at the farm and I’ve shown my face...I’m going to head out too...see you later!” Dana said, waving to the two. Sam went back to complimenting Penny and the farmer thought it was ridiculously cute. She returned home to her farm, none the wiser.

~~~~~~~~

The morning after the flower dance, and the first day of summer, Dana was surprised to see Robin at her doorstep.

“Oh hey Robin, what’s up?” asked the farmer, putting down her hoe.

“Game night! Can you come over tonight?” Robin asked sweetly.

“Sure...you could have called though….instead of hiking all the way up here.”

“Well I wanted to see how you were doing too,” the carpenter said, looking around and clearly not answering that question 100% truthfully.

Dana gave her a look that read, ‘I see the words coming out of your mouth but know you have an ulterior motive.’ She leaned on her hoe with crossed arms. “Uh, huh,” she said deadpan.

“Whhaaattt...can’t an older lady myself take it upon herself to visit her favorite farmer?” Robin asked, a little too innocently. Upon seeing Dana not budging, the carpenter finally relented. “Fine….Sebby’s been in a mood all day and I thought game night might cheer him up.”

“And there we are. You could have just told me that from the start you know. What’s got his panties in a bunch today?” she said with a smile.

Robin snorted, but didn’t give away the true reason for her son’s behavior. “Probably the usual. He’s been in his room all morning typing furiously as he usually does. He snapped at me when I offered him breakfast, and he usually only does that when he’s got a big project.”

Dana accepted this as a likely excuse. “Okay, hows 8 sound? I’ve got to plant the new summer crops today, which will take me a bit of time. Plus, I wanted to buy a few more chicks from Marnie.”

“That sounds lovely! Eight it is. I won’t keep you from your schedule….but I’ll see you then!” the woman said excitedly, hopping back into her truck and taking off.

“Never a dull moment,” Dana said to herself, resuming planting the new seeds the junimos had given her. 

~~~~~~

Eight o’clock rolled around and Dana was on time. She gave herself a wide time window to finish her planting, catch a fish, prepare some sashimi and find her board game. Impressed with her time management, she knocked on the door confidently, in a chipper mood.

Demetrius opened the door. “Oh hello Dana, come on in. We are just getting the table set up. I hope this game is fun,” he said, stepping aside and allowing the farmer to enter.

“It is, I think you and Maru in particular will like to sciencey parts of the game,” Dana said, making her way to the living room. Robin had set up a square card table and five chairs. Sebastian was sulking in one of the chairs and Maru was in the other, doing her best to avoid him and not start a needless fight.

The dark haired man turned her head and saw Dana coming with the board game and his favorite food.

“I brought your favorite!” Dana said happily, handing him the plate. “I heard you were having a rough day so I thought this might cheer you up.”

Sebastian shot a glaring look at his mother, but his eyes softened as he turned to Dana. “Oh...thanks. I appreciate that,” he said softly, putting the plate right in front of him.

 

“No prob!” she said, waving her hand dismissively and putting the board game on the table. She sat down next to Sebastian and began to unpack the box. She scanned over the instructions, familiarizing herself with the setup and rules. “Ah yes, I remember now…” she mumbled to herself as she set-up the pieces.

Robin and Demetrius joined them just as all the pieces were in place. She assigned each of them a ‘role’ with special powers and briefly explained what each role did.

“So, for example, my role as navigator means I can move any of your pieces on my turn. Take a second to look at the card…” Dana began. She gave a rundown of the goal of the game as well as the mechanics. Sebastian nodded, understanding immediately. Maru also nodded, her quick mind picking up on the instructions. Robin was a bit lost, but Demetrius agreed to be on her team and help her during her turns.

The game began with an outbreak of chickenpox. About half an hour into the game, the group was mostly successful in eradicating the disease but Demetrius just looked puzzled. “You know, this isn’t exactly how you cure diseases, first of all you’ve got to -”

“Dad….its a goofy game. I’m sure they had to warp the science a little bit so other people would understand what’s going on,” Maru explained.

“I suppose…” Demetrius agreed. 

Another half an hour into the game and Demetrius’ demeanor changed completely. He went from cool, laid back, and curious, to full blown competitive. He smashed his fist on the table.

“What do you mean we didn’t get rid of the Plague? That was the last square!” he demanded.

Dana chuckled. “When you were fighting another block spawned,” she explained.

Demetrius furrowed his brow. “Right, we’ll get it next time, Yoba as my witness…”

Maru looked to her dad and smiled. It was usually a rare occurance to see him show so much emotion, especially for something he considered so trivial. She looked to the rest of her family. Her mother was still somewhat confused, but giggled like a school girl when Demetrius would lean over and whisper suggestions in her ear. She was obviously having a blast.

Sebastian was a little bit more difficult to read. He was quiet for most of the game, focusing on strategy instead, thought she had to admit, she expected a fight out of her brother at this point. Instead, he kept his demeanor and actually made some smart plays that helped their team break past the first couple challenges. Finally she looked at Dana. Maru was impressed with the woman’s patience and teaching technique. She didn’t get angry, and always had a smile on her face. The scientist suspected that this skill was hones from years working as a waitress. Overall, the night was proceeding well….that is until Sebastian upset the balance.

“Oh man...this virus is getting out of hand. I feel like we’re dancing with the devil here,” Dana commented, leaning over the board and examining the pieces. One of the diseases was spreading rapidly over the continent they were currently trying to clear.

“You mean like you and Shane the other day?” Sebastian said, unable to hold back a majority of the venom in the off-handed comment.

Robin’s and Maru’s eyes widened, and Demetrius was still too focused on strategy to really pay attention to his step son. Dana just looked confused.

“A bit harsh, but I guess?” she said, looking at him like he had three heads.

“Why’d you dance with _him_ anyway. He hurt you,” he said, as if this explained everything.

“He’s trying to make amends...I can respect that. Besides, I know it made Emily feel really good to see her new dress in action. I figured it couldn’t do any harm, it’s just a dance.”

“‘It’s just a dance,’” he repeated sarcastically, mumbling to himself.

“Hey! Don’t you guilt trip me for trying to not be seen as a total bitch in this town. Just because you don’t like the dance doesn’t mean it's not important to other people. I don’t know what your problem is, but we WERE having a nice game here and I’d like to continue it before the Plague wipes out half of Europe again,” she said hotly, crossing her arms.

“Fine then, you can finish without me,” he said shortly, got up from the table and went down to his room.

Dana sighed and turned to Robin. “You weren’t kidding about him being cranky today. Hopefully, he’ll calm down once his project is finished,” Dana said, returning to the game. “We can do this without him...Maru I think it’s your turn.”

The farmer played it off well, but Robin’s mother’s intuition could see the hurt in the younger woman’s eyes. She was going to murder her son if he kept screwing things up. Demetrius huffed at the scene and made an off handed comment about Sebastian’s lack of people skills before turning his attention back to the board. Robin was surprised at her husband’s sudden interest in the game. She hoped at least one thing could be salvaged from tonight - that Demetrius and Maru would be able to understand Sebastian’s hobbies a little better. The pair tended to go off into their own world of science and numbers, and Robin had to admit, she sometimes felt left out too.

They pressed on, getting to the last round of the game. It was close, but with Maru and Demetrius’ quick thinking they were able to pull off a narrow victory. Maru cheered, “YES!” and high fived her dad. 

Demetrius responded back with equal enthusiasm. “Alright Dana...I have to admit I was really skeptical at first, but this was surprisingly fun, certain storm outs excluded.”

“I’m glad you liked it! There’s a lot of cool games out there.”

“I suppose once in a while its nice to unwind and focus on something fun for a change,” Demetrius said, putting a hand to his chin. Robin was delighted.

Maru thanked Dana for a fun night and excused herself to her room. Demetrius did the same, leaving Robin and Dana to clean up. The farmer places all the pieces back in the box while the red head cleaned up the snacks. It was a pleasant silence, Dana noted, as they both went about their cleaning. However, Robin broke it after a while. “I’m sorry about Seb...I thought he was having a good time but something is bothering him,” the carpenter said vaguely.

Dana sighed heavily. “I’ll go talk to him…” she said, resigning herself to an unpleasant conversation. She took the steps down to his basement room and knocked gently on the door.

“Come in,” came the tense reply. She walked inside and shut the door, hearing it click behind her.

“You’ll be happy to know we won...and I think Demetrius has a new appreciation for games,” Dana began, attempting to sound casual.

“That’s nice,” Sebastian said shortly, his eyes not leaving his screen.

“....are you going to talk to me or ignore me forever?” Dana said, sitting down on his couch and propping her feet up.

“I can’t exactly ignore you if you are sprawled out on my couch,” he responded, stopping his typing.

“What’s wrong?” she asked earnestly.

“I really didn’t like seeing you dance with Shane,” he said boldly. “The guy’s an ass. He doesn’t deserve your forgiveness.”

“THAT’S what this is about? Shane’s still not my favorite person, but he’s not done anything wrong lately. Did you ever think that maybe he’s going through some tough shit too? Nobody’s perfect, Seb.”

Sebastian had the decency to look embarrassed. “I still didn’t like it.”

“So, dance with me next time and it won’t happen. Easy solution,” Dana suggested.

“...I’m a terrible dancer…” he grumbled.

“Oh please. Suck it up buttercup. I had NO idea what I was doing and managed not to kill anyone. You’ve been doing it for years,” she said, hopping up off the couch.

Feeling particularly adventurous, she reached out her hand to the dark haired man.

He sighed, lifting his brow. “What are you doing?”

“Dance with me. I can show you how to do it properly, it isn’t hard,” she insisted.

He sat back onto his chair. “You are really demanding, you know that?” he said, his frown tilting up at the corner in a very small smile.

“Come on. Get up, lazy ass,” she kept prodding him. Eventually, he relented and took her hand.

“There’s no music….this is silly…” he commented, putting his hand on her waist.

“We don’t need it, it’s just a few steps,” she replied, placing one hand around his shoulder and the other hand in his. She noted that there was much less distance between her and Sebastian versus her and Shane. She linked their fingers together and he stepped forward, catching her my surprise.

“Ouch!” she said as he stepped on her foot. “When I say go.”

“I warned you….”

“Alright, I’m ready...now go,” she said and he stepped forward, but this time she was ready and stepped back to match him. She stepped forward for the turn, but tripped on her own pants and tumbled against him.

He caught her in his arms and looked down. “I thought you were suppose to be teaching me? What happened to the confident dancer from the other day?” he asked with a wry smile.

“Oh shut up…” she grumbled and they resumed the original position. A couple missteps later, they had the rhythm down and were able to do it once without messing up.

“Wow between the two of us, I bet we could ruin the whole show!” Sebastian said with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

“Very funny,” she said, going for the turn. This time she hit the back of the couch, tumbling backwards onto it. Sebastian fell with her, his hand being attached to hers. He braced himself on either side of her body, which was now lying prone on the couch. His hair fell forward, tickling her nose as they stared at each other wide eyed.

Time stood still for a moment, as their eyes locked. Before either of them could do anything about it, there was a knock at the door.

Sebastian sprung off the couch immediately as if burned.

“Yes?” Sebastian asked as the door opened, revealing Robin.

“I thought I heard a loud thump are you guys okay?” she asked. Dana was seated on the couch, looking casual, as if nothing ever happened.

“I tripped on the table and fell on the couch...no worries,” Dana explained.

“Ah okay, sorry for the intrusion,” Robin said, looking back and forth between the two. She noticed Sebastian seemed anxious, and she could swear he was blushing. 

“It’s okay, I need to go anyway,” Dana said, gathering her things. “I’ll see you both later!” She gave them a little wave and Sebastian called after her, “See you later…” his eyes trailed after her and Robin noticed.

When the farmer was gone, she looked wryly to her son. “Patch things up?”

“Yeah, it was just a misunderstanding,” he explained sheepishly.

“Good...I don’t want you two to fight….that would mean no more game nights, and it was a blast!” Robin said cheerfully. “But….I’ll leave you alone to your thoughts. G’night.”

“Goodnight mom,” he said, watching her retreat and shut the door behind him.

Realizing he was not going to get much else accomplished, he collapsed onto his bed, hugging his pillow. “Maybe Sam is right….” he thought to himself, holding the pillow closer.


	13. Demons Are a Girls Best Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana has a nightmare and is forced to confront her past in the worst way.

Summer was hot in Stardew Valley, and not just “I really need ice cream” hot but “I think satan has cursed my farm” hot. 

A week had passed and Dana realized she had to do extra watering to ensure her crops were up to snuff. Last season’s harvest made her a decent amount, but her quality could be better, so she vowed to be more careful with the fertilizer.

Snowy was growing quickly, as were her new chicken friends. Soon, Dana thought, Snowy would be laying eggs and she could make mayonnaise to sell. She turned her head to look at her new mayonnaise machine - a gift from the Junimos after she brought them a few more gifts - this time some of the summer foragables and fish.

Another relief was that she was finally able to convince Marlon to let her travel down to the ice caves. Eager to hunt for iron, she spent a couple hours, bundled up in a bulky coat, finding the valuable ore. The cool air felt like paradise and she found herself dreading returning to the sweltering surface. In her exploration, she found a few new treasures - frozen tears, gems, and various artifact items she had been donating to the museum. She saved one of the frozen tears - remembering that Sebastian had a fondness for them.

All in all, the summer was proceeding with a bang and Dana was in good spirits. More weeks passed along, and Dana became closer and closer with her friends. She gave Abby the first amethyst she found, and the purple haired girl was ecstatic. She was so happy that she planned to take Dana to the spa the following afternoon for a ‘girls day.’

Friday nights at the saloon were always fun and lively, and it was great to be in the air conditioned bar, laughing with her friends. She’d managed to beat Sebastian in a few games of pool, but for the most part, he still kept winning.

At one night, Sam came in, looking sad. Sebastian was surprisingly the opposite and wondered why his friend was suddenly acting like him. It was revealed that Sam was falling hard for Penny, but was moping around because he was too nervous. He wanted to invite her to a concert in Zuzu City, but kept chickening out. Dana had suggested they all go, so it was less pressure and Sam jumped at the chance. The next day, he posed the idea to Penny, who agreed. Dana went over Sam’s house the day of the concert to give him motivation and support. The concert itself was a lot of fun, and a resounding success. Sam confided in the group the following day that Sam and Penny had shared their first kiss, and Dana’s heart swelled with love for the new couple.

Dana was also a frequent guest over at Sebastian’s house, both for game night and the Solarion Chronicles. She noticed that Sebastian was being less aloof with his family, giving more instructions than criticisms during their games. “ _Progress,_ she thought…Slow...but progress. 

The farmer was doing all of this, mostly to keep her mind off of other things. Every since that day, she hadn’t been bothered by her anxiety, preferring to focus on keeping as busy as possible so her demons didn’t have time to catch up. But then one day, they made their presence know again.

~~~~~~~~

_Blood and glass. These were the only things that the child Dana could think of in the current moment. Her feet took her swiftly down the hallway, her bare feet crunching on broken glass. She just had to make it to her door….she’d be safe there._

_There. She’d reached her bedroom. She stepped into the darkness and locked the door behind her. She slumped with her back against the door, holding onto her stuffed bear for dear life. Behind her, the door thudded and there were screams and the sound of more things shattering._

_She held her hands desperately to her ears and began to shake._

_Dana….a voice called out….DANA!_

Dana awoke with a start, sweat dripping from every inch of her body. Her body was wracked with tremors and she sat up gasping. She clutched her legs close to her torso and wrapped her legs around them, rocking slowly. 

“Not again…” she whispered to herself. “It’s just a dream. It’s just a dream.”

Sirius hopped up onto her bed and extended his paw to touch her, whining as he did. Dana hugged the large dog to her. Her furry companion licked her face and she let out a short, strained laugh, and eventually her body began to calm down. She laid back down, Sirius cuddled with her, until morning. She didn’t sleep at all, but his presence was reassuring.

Naturally, nightmares and lack of sleep tend to put one in a foul mood. Even the rain, which Dana looked forward to usually, didn’t improve her spirits. Today, she had hoped to busy herself tending the crops, but instead she was alone with her thoughts. 

Sitting in her kitchen, drinking her coffee, she decided she would go for a walk today.

It was late morning when she found herself walking down the docks in the rain, lost in her thoughts. The fog had rolled in, and she didn’t realize there was another person standing at the dock until she reached the end. It was Sebastian, looking as forlorn and miserable as herself. He stood there, the rain dripping from his long hair and turned.

“Oh, hi Dana. I usually don’t see people out here in the rain….it’s why I come here, to think and get away from it all. The rain is quite peaceful, don’t you think?” he asked.

“Oh...yeah, I guess so. I can leave you alone to your thoughts if you want, there’s plenty of spots to brood,” he said, picking up what she thought was a hint to get lost.

“Oh...no you can stay. You know….most people make me feel anxious,” he began, averting his eyes, but then gave a soft smile. “But I don’t feel that way around you.”

“Well that’s nice,” Dana said, a distinct lack of her usual happiness in her voice. Sebastian looked her over but didn’t ask. Instead he pulled out his uncharacteristically bright umbrella and opened it up.

“We’re getting soaked. Come here, there is room for two,” he said, extending the red and white striped umbrella over both their heads. Dana scooched a little closer until she was bumping up against his shoulder.

“Might be a moot point, but….thank you,” she said, staring out into the ocean. They stayed like that for a little while, saying nothing and simply enjoying the rain and the solace it was bringing. Eventually though, despite it being summer, Dana began to shiver. The rain was cool and had permeated through her clothes. 

“I should go,” she said simply. 

He nodded, “I should too...though I really don’t want to go home right now.” He held the umbrella out in front of them as they walked slowly down the dock.

Dana sighed heavily. She was in no mood for this today. “More trouble at home?” she asked, but with none of her usual concern.

Sebastian didn’t pick up on it and continued. “Demetrius was on a kick again comparing my habits to his precious daughter...he’s always trying to change me to be more like Maru. My whole life has been like that….I don’t know why he doesn’t understand that I’m not like them.”

“Maybe it's not the whole story...it sucks being compared to someone else but have you ever confronted him about it? Maybe he doesn’t know he’s doing it and legit thinks he is helping...” Dana began.

Sebastian scoffed as they stepped onto the wet sand. “As if….::sigh:: sometimes I still think about the city. I still can’t figure out why you’d leave. It seems so ideal.”

Dana frowned. Again with the city. “Because its cold, lonely and oppressively full of people despite that. No one cares about you, it's crowded and even when you want to be alone you can’t find peace.”

”Still it's got to be better than here…” Sebastian said wistfully.

Dana couldn’t take it anymore. Something snapped inside her, something that she had been trying to hold back for a while. She couldn’t help the frown on her face, or the bitterness in her voice as she said, “You are so lucky to have a family that cares about you and you don’t even see it. You sit around and sulk in the basement while making no changes to your life. You think you’ve got such a terrible life, but it could be so much worse.”

Sebastian stopped walking and stood there, completely taken aback. He wasn’t expecting this kind of comment from someone he considered a friend. He’d opened up to her, and now she was throwing it in his face. His temper started to rise.

“You think you’re so high and mighty because you’ve lived in the big city. Way to be a judgmental asshole. This isn’t the oppression Olympics...you don’t get to be the only one who’s had a troubled life. In fact, didn’t you tell me the exact same fucking thing in my basement when you were doing your “I’m going to fix everyone” routine? You’re a hypocrite,” he spat, turning to face her.

Dana sneered and later she would admit that his words stung...they hurt worse than anything else she had heard recently. There was sense there and she knew that, but right now, her anger was clouding her judgement. “ At least I MADE something out of a bad situation. Instead of sitting around waiting for life to hand me a golden ticket, I LEFT and went out on my own and made my own living. It sucked, people were horrible, but I did it anyway. I didn’t have a family that cared enough about me to go back to. You say I’m judgmental? Look in the fucking mirror. All you did it mope around, smoking your cigarettes and slowly killing yourself instead of making a goddamn effort!”

Dana continued, resigning herself that she wasn’t going to get through to the dark haired man, too angry to see the clear hurt in his eyes. “I’m done….I don’t need this kind of stress. I’m going home,” she said before storming off, leaving Sebastian seething. He kicked over a large shell in anger before storming off towards the mountain.


	14. Drunken Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana has been absent a while and Sam convinced Sebastian to go find her. Dana spills some of her past with the help of a lot of alcohol.
> 
> Warning - little angsty

It was Saturday, a few days after the altercation on the beach. No one had seen or heard from Dana since then and her absence was noticeable to the townsfolk. The usual gossip began to spread - maybe she had left, maybe she was sick, maybe she’d be abducted by aliens.

And yet, her produce still found its way into the shipping container and off to the town and the surrounding areas. Robin had stopped by mid-day on Friday, yet the dark haired woman was not there. The carpenter looked around the house, but nothing seemed amiss. The coop was stocked full of hay, and there were no weeds on her crops. Concerned, but realizing there was nothing more she could do, left a note for Dana to have her visit sometime this weekend.

Friday night came around, and Abby was in poor spirits. It wasn’t like Dana not to show up for saloon night - or be completely offline and unavailable for messaging. She voiced her concern to the others, and Sebastian just grunted, seeming more frustrated than usual. He barely talked to her or Sam, and Abby was starting to get the feeling that he knew what was going on. Sebastian himself was mildly surprised that Dana wasn’t here as well - he assumed she’d stroll in here, confidently ignoring him and hang out with Sam and Abby.

His focus started wavering in his pool game, and Sam finally said something.

“Alright spill, what’s wrong?” Sam said, leaning on his cue.

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just having a bad day.”

“And is it a coincidence that you haven’t had a bad day in months and now suddenly Dana’s not here and you are acting like a kicked puppy?” Sam said frankly.

“It’s none of your business,” Sebastian spat.

“It IS my business because she’s my friend too and I want to make sure she’s okay, so if something happened, we have a right to know!” Sam said, throwing his hands in the air.

“We got into a fight and said some heated words to each other, that’s all. If she wants to distance herself, that’s HER business,” Sebastian said flatly.

“Oh for the love of Yoba…” Sam sighed. “Sometimes I think you are both children. Look, I don’t know what you said to each other, but maybe you should go over there and work it out. It's not good to just keep this bottled up. It’s probably a misunderstanding right?”

Sebastian frowned. He’d had several days of alone time to think about what had happened, and he had to admit, some of what she was saying rang a little too true. That still didn’t excuse her nasty words and behavior...however there was something she said that he wasn’t able to get out of his mind. What was it she had said? “ _I didn’t have a family that cared enough about me to go back to_ ”. This statement haunted him, and even when Robin began questioning him earlier today, he didn’t have the strength or the anger in him to argue with her. He’d suddenly remembered all the times in the last few months where Dana had very casually said something like “Maybe they just care…” Sebastian was beginning to think he didn’t know her as well as he thought and was feeling slightly guilty - everytime they talked about something serious, it was always Sebastian’s problems, never hers. No wonder she had hit her breaking point - maybe he was just a terrible friend.

He sighed. “Maybe you are right….but not tonight, maybe tomorrow I’ll go talk to her.”

“Finally, some progress. Now are you going to get your shit together and kick my ass like usual?” Sam said with a smile.

The dark haired man responded with a look of determination. “You’re on.”

~~~~~~~~~

Abby excused herself from the game and stepped outside the saloon. She sent a text message to Dana. “Hey are you okay?”

Several minutes went by, and Abby paced anxiously outside. Her phone beeped with a short message. “I’m fine, I just need some space.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk?” Abby kept prodding.

“Yes.” was all the message read, and Abby sighed sadly. She pocketed her phone, took a last look at the window and shook her head. She hoped that whatever happened would resolve itself soon, and dejectedly walked back to her home.

~~~~~~~~~

Most of Saturday came and went without incident. Sebastian spent the morning and afternoon programming, but wasn’t able to focus. His mind kept wandering back to that day - replaying the conversation over and over again. As much as her words her hurtful, she had a point. But that wasn’t even what he was concerned about.

He still felt as though Dana didn’t have a right to judge his life, but at the end of the day….he realized he knew nothing about hers. And maybe that was his fault as much as it was her own reclusiveness. Maybe he should have asked more questions, or pried further. As an introverted person, he respected people’s privacy...but maybe it was time to cross some comfort zones and find out what was really going on. He didn’t really have much to lose.

Sighing heavily and shutting down his computer, he gathered his things and walked out the front door, preferring to walk instead of taking his motorcycle. This way, he could plan what he would say.

He took his time during the walk, and the sun was beginning to set. He had rehearsed dialogue in his head but by the time he reached her front door, all of it vanished. It took all of his nerve to knock on the door and not run away.

There was no answer, but the door was slightly ajar. He peeked through the crack and saw that her TV was on, some show blasting away and he saw her foot dangling off the edge of the couch.

“Hello? Dana? Are you home?” he asked, knowing full well she was sitting right there. Still he didn’t want to be rude.

“Who’s it?” came a slurred voice from the couch. Black spikes popped up over the side of the couch. “Sebbbbbasssstttiiiaaaannn,” she said, slurring her words, an unnaturally pleasant smile on her face.

“C’min and shut tha door,” she said, taking a swig from what looked like a nearly empty wine bottle. Sebastian did so hesitantly and nearly tripped over another empty wine bottle.

“Um, are you okay? No one has seen you for a while,” he said, standing there by the door awkwardly.

“M’FINE!” she said chipperly, “Wanna drink?!” she said, attempting to stand up. She tripped a little and thrust the bottle towards him, giggling. “Whooopppsss…” she slurred as some of the wine got on his hoodie.

“ _Shit I don’t know how to deal with this….maybe I should call Abb-_ ” he started thinking before he felt himself being dragged over to the couch.

He sat down heavily, mostly against his will as she sat next to him. She took another swig, finishing the bottle and as soon as she sat down, bolted right back up. “I’m alllllll outt…..neeeed moreeeeeee,” she said in a sing song voice and went to her cabinet to retrieve another bottle.”

She sat down again and Sebastian grabbed it from her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea…”

Dana pouted. “You’re so MEEEEAANNNNN. Why you here then?”

“I wanted to talk to you about a few days ago but I can see that now’s not a good time…” he began, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

Dana laid his head in his lap suddenly, trapping him there. Her world began spinning. “What chu wanna talk abouutttt? I’ll tell you anything you wannaaa know….”

Sebastian had never felt more awkward in his life. Here was the woman he had just been fighting with, drunk as a skunk with her head on his lap looking at him with big doey eyes. Furthermore, he felt anything he’d do in this situation would be taking advantage of her.

“No...I’ll come back another time and we can talk properly…” he said, shifting a little.

Dana sat up, her brows furrowing and suddenly looking angry. “No, we talk NOW,” she insisted.

Her body swayed slightly, the effort to sit up almost borderline too much. “I’m sssorrry you know...I was really mean….I was having a bad day because the nightmares are back….”

Sebastian looked concerned. “Nightmares?”

She turned her head. “Ya...the ones about my past….with all the screaming and yelling and people breaking things….”

“Are they JUST dreams, or…?”

“Noooooooooo,” she drug out. “Memories.”

Sebastian just gave her a confused look. 

Dana, spurred on by the alcohol, decided that now was a completely appropriate time to have this conversation. “My ppaaarents hated each other….but they had my brother then me...their ‘mistakes’....they fought all the time….” she began. 

“Dana - you’re not in your right mind are you sure you want to continue this? I’d be more than happy to hear this when you are sober…” he attempted.

“NO! LISTEN! Listen listen listen...it explains a lot,” she said, that eerie drunken smile on her face. “They took it out on us….sometimes….sometimes late at night they’d throw things at each other….wake us up. My brother couldn’t handle it….he did LOTSA drugs….I turned to drawing and video games….I was always so alone….so alone… they threatened us and told us not to talk to anyone….said it was no ones business” she said, her smile fading. Tears started forming in her eyes.

“When I was ten….they split...I went with mom and my brother went with dad...it shoulda been better….but...mom didn’t care about me...never wanted to be involved in my life. Dad was too busy working to notice his son was killing himself….when I was 18 I left one day….got an apartment….tiny….but mine….”

Dana reached for a bottle that wasn’t there, and pouted again. “Annnnnyyywaaayyss….my brother died a few years ago….OD’d…..and then my grandfather…..he was the only one who was nice to me but mom kept him away….then he left me this farm….I wanted to make him proud….I wanted to make _someone_ proud.”

She continued, her eyes red. “But I just push people away….I don’t talk about this...no one understands….everyone will just leave me or ignore me….”

Sebastian looked shocked at this admission….it painted her in a totally new light in his eyes. He could see the hurt in her eyes, the pain she was desperately trying to hide and mask, first with her elusiveness, and then with the alcohol.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me…” she continued…”You’re right….I am a hypocrite….I shouldn’t judge people like I hate to be judged….s’not right….”

Sebastian didn’t know what to say. He tried to form words, but he couldn’t. His heart hurt. Instead, he decided to be bold and wrapped her up in a tight hug. It was then that the dam had broken. She began sobbing into his shoulder and he rested his chin on the top of her head.

In a very soft voice, he said, “I’m sorry too...you’re right, I do take things for granted. And I’m sorry for what happened to you, you deserve better than that.”

She pulled back, and looked at him, eyes puffy and swollen. “You don’t hate me?”

Sebastian gave her a soft smile, “I couldn’t never hate you. Friends fight sometimes...you can always talk to me Dana, I hope you know that. You don’t have to be alone anymore.”

She buried her face back into his hoodie. His kindness was making her even more emotional, and the alcohol in her system was certainly not helping. The room was spinning faster and faster, and her mind was getting hazier and hazier. His chest felt warm, and she didn’t really want to move.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and gently moved her. “You should sleep this off….we can talk more tomorrow.”

“Ttthhaaaannnkkk you Sebby...you’re a nice guy. I like nice guys,” she slurred, her mind very close to shutting down for the night. She wouldn’t remember it later, but her body fell forward slightly, her face right up against Sebastian’s. Her face was flushed and she was looking at him with affection in her eyes. Her lips inched closer to his, but at that moment, her head collapsed back onto his chest, fast asleep.

Sebastian’s face was redder than it had ever been. “ _Did she just try to kiss me? Shit I need to get out of here….this is so inappropriate…I hope to Yoba she doesn’t remember this part,_ ” he thought to himself. 

Gently, so as not to disturb her, he lifted her up to a sitting position on the couch. Her head lolled back and she didn’t stir. Reaching his arms underneath her legs and bracing her in a bridal carry, he brought her to her bed, sliding her under the covers. He took a moment to look at her face and brushed a lock of her spiky hair from her eyes.

Sirius, having watched the whole exchange, nodded to Sebastian sadly and curled up next to his owner as if to say, “I’ve got it from here.”

Sebastian cleaned up the discarded bottles of wine and through them in the trash. He shut the TV off and walked out the front door. His head was swimming, and a nice long walk back home would help him think.

As he walked, he felt an enormous range of emotions. He was no longer upset at Dana….and now that he knew bits of her past, it seemed to explain her outburst. How many times had he snapped at his mom, Demetrius, or Maru and they just simply took it? It made him feel guilty and furthered his recognition that he was taking things for granted. On top of all that, he didn’t know what to make of Dana’s past….it seemed like there was more to it, but her verbal diarrhea just kind of lumped everything together. It sounded like she had experienced quite a trauma when she was younger, and the pain in her eyes made it feel like he had been stabbed in the chest. He was truthful when he said that she could always talk to him, and from now on, he was determined to stop thinking about himself so much, and try to be there for someone else.

And how would she feel tomorrow? Knowing that her walls had come down and she’d spilled her carefully kept secret? Probably embarrassed, he thought. His face then flushed upon reminiscing about the look she gave him before she passed out. “Could she… _like_ me like that?”

He went to go pull a cigarette from his box but hesitated. He sighed and put the box away.


	15. Pizza Talk and Jellyfish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana and Sebastian talk about what happened over pizza. Time passes and the end of summer approaches - time for the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies.
> 
> Warning: talk of sad, angsty backstory.

The bright ray of sunlight was doing Dana no favors the morning following her drunken bender. She grimaced as the ray hit her right in the eyes and she turned over, pulling the covers up and over her head.

“Auggg….” she said to herself, her head still spinning. “I don’t know how Shane functions like this all the time…” she grumbled. Sirius poked her with his nose repeatedly and the farmer realized that the chores and her animals were not going to wait for her hangover to pass.  
She staggered into the living room, finding it surprisingly cleaned up. She put on a pot of coffee and sat down heavily at her table. She put her head in her hands, pushing down the nausea.

She sat up straight suddenly, remembering bits and pieces of the night before. “Wait...Sebastian was here and we talked about - oh no….he’s going to be even more distant now...who’d want to deal with that…”

She groaned and got up to get her coffee and turn on her computer for the first time in a couple days. She stood against the wall with her cup, the scent helping to ease her mind for a brief moment. The hot liquid felt like paradise and she savored it for a moment.

Upon seeing that she had come online, Sebastian had sent her a message out of concern. He hadn’t slept all night, something that was becoming more and more rare.

**Sebastian** : Good morning, how are you feeling?

Dana was shocked. She remembered parts of their conversation, and some brief apologies...but she had just assumed he would need some space to process all that.

**Dana** : Like hell. My everything hurts.

**Sebastian** : Yeah, that tends to happen when you drink two bottles of wine. Next time, remember to drink a healing potion after.

Dana smiled genuinely for the first time in a few days.

**Dana** : I’m sorry you had to see that last night. I haven’t been having the best week...but that’s no excuse. I really am sorry for what I said...I think I mentioned that last night but I can’t be sure.

**Sebastian** : You did and I appreciate that…

Dana saw that he continued to type, stop typing, then picked up again for an agonizing couple of minutes.

**Sebastian** : I understand now...I wish I’d had found out sooner….and that’s on me too for never bothering to get to know you better. We both said some bad things, but they weren’t unfounded. I’m sorry too….and I meant it when I said you can talk to me about that stuff. I’m not going anywhere.

Dana resisted the urge to cry. 

**Dana** : Thanks...that...means a lot...really. I missed you. I don’t like fighting. Sometimes I try to push stuff down but the demons find their way to the surface now and then.

**Sebastian** : That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone’s got their issues...yours just suck more. 

**Dana** : I’m sure that’s not true. But….thanks.

**Sebastian** : Mhmm, don’t mention it. Do you want me to stop by later and we can start over? Maybe watching some more episodes of that anime?

**Dana** : Yeah, I’d like that. After chores and this hangover goes away.

**Sebastian** : Okay, I’ll bring pizza by around 6.

**Dana** : Hnnngggg….you’re too good to me.

**Sebastian** : I know. Now get back to work and make some money :)

**Dana** : Aye aye.

Despite her stomach rolling and head pounding, she felt much better. Taking a couple pain relievers and getting dressed properly she stepped outside with more confidence, ready to tackle the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When Sebastian came over with pizza at 6 o’clock, Dana wanted to smother him with kisses - not for romantic reasons, but because she was starving.

“You are a lifesaver,” she said, taking the whole pizza to the kitchen table to divide it up.

“I try,” he said with a smile.

They eaches grabbed a few slices and settled in comfortably on the couch. They watched an episode of the anime show, but Sebastian’s mind kept wandering.

“Hey can we pause this?” he asked.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I don’t know if its too soon, but….I wanted to talk about what you said when you were drunk. All that stuff really happened to you?” he asked with concern.

“That and more...with my rambling I guess it wasn’t too coherent was it?” she sighed. “Are you sure you want to know more? It's not a great story.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Alright,” she agreed. “I guess the overarching tl;dr is that my childhood was shit and my parents were the cause of a lot of emotional trauma - which has affected how I act with other people.”

“That’s pretty astute…”

“Googling things helps,” she smiled.

“Like I was trying to say last night, but did so poorly, was that my parents weren’t a good fit for each other, but decided to stick it out since my mom accidentally got pregnant. It made them both really bitter, so when I came along 6 years later it got worse. They were very verbally abusive to each other….they fought constantly and never showed any love or affection to each other. It was the same for us...they never really bothered to get to know us or anything. Sure they fed us, clothed us, made sure we got to school...but it was all fake and mechanical. There was no love, so I sought out ways to occupy myself - drawing, video games, etc.”

She stopped for a moment to make sure Sebastian was still okay with her long winded description. He nudged her. “Go on.”

“My brother couldn’t cope with it so he turned to drugs, pretty much everything under the sun. My parents didn’t care...they were too busy working or fighting with each other. His behavior was jarring - he’d steal things, break things, walk around in a haze smelling like pot and cigarettes all day. He eventually overdosed, which wasn’t really a shock to me,” she said, avoiding Sebastian’s gaze this time.

“Even when they divorced it was still bad. My mom was lazy. She had her job of course, but she’d come home and watch TV all night, too disinterested to even ask me about my day. Thank Yoba for Sasha. We met in grade school, and she was the only friend who pushed me to tell my secrets. She wouldn’t leave me alone actually,” Dana said fondly.

“When I was 18 I got a studio apartment and my waitressing gig. It was a lot of work at first...and my first apartment was so shitty. I could hear the neighbors fighting or playing music and it wasn’t in the best neighborhood. After a couple years, I was able to afford a better place, but it meant more work. I’ve mentioned before that the city is the most lonely place in the world - despite having so many people, and for me, that’s very true. Maybe some people can find their dream there, but not me,” Dana said sadly.

“I’m not sure it's what I want anymore...if its as crowded as you say. We both know I don’t do well with people,” Sebastian said, sheepishly putting a hand behind his head.

“Well, I’m only one data point after all, though I’d miss you if you left,” she admitted.

Sebastian smiled softly but asked her to continue.

“Right, so my grandfather. The one who lived here was my mother’s father and he was the kindest man I’ve ever met. Always played with us, gave us sweets. He never approved of how my parents treated us and got into a fight with my mom. She prevented us from seeing him, and that stung. From what I heard, he eventually left this farm and moved into the city, to watch over us from a distance. I have a sneaky suspicion he helped me get my first job actually…” she looked thoughtful at this, but pressed on.

“When I found out he died, it was a huge shock, but not as much of a shock as the deed to this farm that was enclosed with the finally letter he wrote me. He said, that I was destined to be more and that if I wanted to take a different path, Stardew Valley might be the key to my happiness. I didn’t really have anything to lose, so….here I am,” Dana finished.

Sebastian nodded, taking it all in. He looked at her with affection, wishing he could undo the past. “You’re very calm talking about this…” he commented.

She shrugged. “It was a long time ago. I thought I had made peace with it, but sometimes the nightmares put me in a bad mood...as you...um...saw.”

Sebastian chuckled. “You do have quite the temper when your fuse runs out. But honestly….I’ve been thinking about it and I realized that I was being very selfish.”

“Oh?” Dana asked.

“Yeah….most of my problems are self inflicted….and I’ve never really bothered to ask about you or your problems. So...I’m going to try...try to be nicer to my family and be a better friend…” he said shyly, turning his head away in embarrassment.

“Aww...well...that’s awfully nice. And I’ll make sure not to take out my bad days on you or judge you, okay?”

“Deal,” Sebastian said, returning his gaze to her. “You know,” he began nervously, “I get it...my dad didn’t want me either. He left when I was a baby, because he didn’t want the responsibility. I carried a lot of anger with me my whole life because of it. I took it out on my family, but I wasn’t exaggerating when I said Demetrius always compared me to Maru. I guess it just….made me feel unwanted, like I wasn’t good enough. But I also never bothered to form a relationship with them either.”

“I’m sorry Seb…” Dana said softly. “I didn’t know.”

“Much like you, I tend to keep these things to myself...so I can understand how it looks from the outside. But I’m an adult now….hanging onto the past isn’t doing me any favors and I should focus on not being such a jackass all the time,” he said solemnly.

“I think that’s a good way of looking at it….I should do the same,” Dana agreed. “And I like you for just who you are, by the way.”

“Thanks,” he said shyly.

“Oh wait! Hang on,” she said, jumping up and going to her room. She walked back to the couch with something cupped in both hands.

“It’s for you. I know you’ve always wanted one….consider it a apology gift and a thank you gift for being my friend,” the farmer said, handing it over.

Sebastian opened his palm and watches as she dropped a frozen tear into it. His eyes widened and sparkled.

“This...is for me?” he said in awe, holding up the treasure.

“Mhmm!”

“I really love this...how did you know?” Sebastian said, unable to help the wide smile from spreading across his face.

“You mentioned it a long long time ago and I happened across a few in the mines recently,” Dana explained.

Sebastian gave her a big hug, which was very much unlike him, and she was taken aback, but in a good way. It was very brief, but his warmth lingered after they parted.

“Thank you...I’m going to add it to my collection,” he said, placing it gently in his pocket.

“Right so….are we just gonna get mopey tonight or are we going to watch more anime?” Dana grinned, nudging him.

He reached over to grab the remote, smiling, and continued the show.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sebastian began visiting Dana on more and more nights. They laughed together, watching movies and eating junk food and picked up right where they left off. If anything, they were even closer. They had a comfortable routine, and everyone had noticed that the two were in much better spirits now.

Dana apologized to Abby and Sam for being so aloof and vowed to make it up to them. She bought all the pizza and beer at the next saloon night, and the gang was thrilled to have her back. Sebastian never said what it was they fought about, or how they reconciled, but Abby had a feeling and confronted Dana on the farm one day.

The purple haired woman pushed the farmer, trying to wheedle out what had happened. Remembering how Sebastian had reacted to her story, and how he had treated her kindly, she decided to tell Abby a few bits and pieces from her past. She told her friend, without going into detail, that she and Sebastian had a fight, and that both were correct and wrong at the same time, but managed to work out the misunderstanding. She told Abby she was purposely avoiding people, because that was what she did her whole life (aside from Sasha), afraid that something bad would happen and the people she had come to consider friends would leave her. 

Abby was aghast, and hugged the farmer tightly, reassuring her that she’d never do something like that. Dana began to feel that maybe opening up to people wasn’t so bad. Abby even confided in her that she often felt alone and isolated in this town. Because she was so misunderstood, she also felt alone...and it didn’t help that she wasn’t into guys. Dana wasn’t really shocked by this news, as she’d always assumed, but understood the underlying message and how critical people can be, especially in a small town. They ended the conversation, forming a deeper bond of friendship then they had before.

More and more days past and Dana kept expanding her farm. She’d commissioned Robin to build a barn and she was now the proud owner of a cow, a goat, and a pig. Her plants were growing better than they had in the spring, and she calculated that with the added mayonnaise, cheese, and quality crops for the next couple seasons, she should be set for the dead winter months. Though, she decided it would make a good opportunity to fish and mine.

~~~~

The last day of summer approached quickly. She received a note in the mail from Mayor Lewis - another town event. This one was called the “Dance of the Moonlight Jellies.” Groaning at the thought of wearing another awful dress, she later found out that it wasn’t an actual dance, but a wondrous biological event.

**Sebastian** : It’s actually something I look forward to in this town.

**Dana** : You? Excited? This I’ve got to see.

**Sebastian** : I’ll save you a spot on the dock :)

As Dana logged off, her thoughts drifted back to Sebastian - they always did these days. It was like she was obsessed...his hair, his smile, his snarky attitude. Her sketchbook was full of drawings of him and she couldn’t stop herself. Though, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything about it. She understood Sebastian, probably moreso than anyone at this point, and realized that if he wanted to do something about it, he would, and at his pace. Still, Dana was becoming a bit impatient and busied herself with farm work.

Later that night, once she was showered, she decided to dress a little less casually. Being that it was still hot out, she donned a short dark blue summer dress that twirled when she spun. It was 10 PM, and she darted out the door towards the beach.

Upon arriving, she noticed that the whole town had gathered for the event. The only light was coming from the torches in the water. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, and there was an air of excitement buzzing around.

She noticed Sam first, his hair a dead giveaway. He had his arm around Penny as they sat at the end of the longest dock. Abby was seated on the other side of Penny, and Sebastian was standing up, next to Sam. Dana walked down the dock.

“I almost couldn’t find you guys...especially Seb since you blend into the dark,” she said with a wry smile.

Sebastian turned and grinned. “You’re one to talk, you look just like the night sky.” He pretending not to notice how the fabric clung to her curves and floated away at her hips perfectly.

Sam gave Abby a sly look and mouth mimicked an “Aw” before pretending to stick his finger down his throat. Abby snorted and Penny just gave him a disapproving look.

“Well at least that's better than that marshmallow I was wearing before,” Dana said and stepped to Sebastian’s side. “So what’s this all about?”

“The mayor lights a torch and it attracts the migrating jellyfish. It’s actually quite the sight….they give off this weird glow,” the dark haired man said, taking a seat on the dock and patting next to him. Dana took the cue and sat down, smoothing out her dress and dangling her legs over the side of the dock.

“When does it st-” she started to ask but heard the mayor clear his voice. 

In his usual authoritative tone, Major Lewis explained the tradition as he lit the torch and set it in a small boat to float on the ocean.

As the boat floated there, a hushed quiet descended on the town. Nobody dared to move or make a sound as the light flickered on the water. A few moments passed, and nothing seemed to happen but then, the entire area lit up with the bioluminescence of the jellyfish. 

Dana looked on at the jellyfish in wonder, her eyes lighting up at the bright colors. Sebastian turned his head and smiled at the joy on her face.

“You were right, this IS amazing….they are so beautiful,” Dana said, her eyes glued to the phenomenon.

Without turning his head to look at the jellies, Sebastian agreed. “Yeah, very beautiful…” he said, losing interest in the jellyfish.

While this went unnoticed by Dana, and Sam and Penny as well, it did not go unnoticed by Abby. She gave a soft smile, followed by a look of determination. She had an idea.

Almost as fast as they had come, they were gone, taking their ethereal light with them, and Dana pouted slightly. “Aww.” Sebastian thought she looked particularly adorable doing so, but didn’t say anything.

The town began to pack up their chairs and belonging and head off the beach. It was getting late and a chill had picked up in the air. Dana shivered and decided it was time to leave as well.

“Well guys, I’ll see you around. I’ve got to get up early and start the fall crops. Busy busy!” she said, hopping up from her seat.

“Yeah, see you,” Sebastian said, almost in a dream-like haze. He watched her walk down the dock and when she was out of site, also made his exit. “G’night guys,” he said simply and wandered off.

Abby turned to Sam. “Okay, enough is enough. We need drastic action.”

“For….?” Sam asked. Penny tilted her head curiously at his side.

“Sebastian and Dana! This back and forth is killing me,” the purple haired girl said.

“Oh, that. Good luck...they are both stubborn as mules. I suppose you’ve got a plan?” Sam asked.

“I do, but I’ll need to call in the big guns….don’t worry I’ll take care of it. Just….be ready Saturday night for an epic Solarion Game. I’m feeling in the mood to play this week….” Abby grinned mischievously. Sam looked slightly concerned as Abby darted off, obviously working out the details of her master plan. He shrugged and turned his attention back to his girlfriend, offering her his coat. She graciously accepted and the two wandered back into town.


	16. When Nerds Scheme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana's best friend visits for numerous shenanigans and Sebastian has a moment of clarity.

Fall, Dana realized, would be very busy. There was the harvest festival to consider, and she didn’t want to showcase anything less than perfect which meant more expensive fertilizer and more seeds. She’d received some from the junimos, but it wouldn’t be nearly enough. Her farming area had tripled since she had first started, and she was determined to make the best of every inch. So, into the dirt she went.

Dana spent a couple days this way, fertilizing, seeding, and watering until she nearly collapsed from exhaustion. Several times, the townsfolk had seen her darting into Pierre’s covered in mud only to rapidly head back to her farm. By now, they had expected some weird behavior from the farmer and gave her no nevermind.

It was because of how tired she was that she agreed to run a Solarion Game herself this coming Saturday. It wasn’t even her idea.

Earlier that day…

**Sasha** : Hey girlfriend, can I come visit this weekend?

**Dana** : Actually I could use a break from all this work. Sure! As long as you don’t mind watching or playing a Solarion Chronicles game with me and the gang on Saturday night.

**Sasha** : Oh! Speaking of, I found something for you. It’s a module for the game that I think you’d enjoy running.

**Dana** : Wait, ME run the game? Hmmm….maybe it’s time I test my DM skills….that's a lot of work though...idk

**Sasha** : It's about vampppirrrreeeeesss. And they are super hoottttttttt

Dana could almost hear the sing song voice from her best friends mouth.

**Dana** : Wait, hot vampire boys? Alright, I’m sold. Can you come down Friday night so I can read the scenario?

**Sasha** : Of course! I had planned for that already.

**Dana** : Cool, you can stay in the guest room.

**Sasha** : Ooo aren’t we fancy. Having a lot of sleepovers are we?

**Dana** : You’d be the first to use the new futon.

**Sasha** : That doesn’t answer my question ;)

**Dana** : You are the worst.

**Sasha** : You deserve me.

**Dana** : I do.

They continued to chat for a while before they headed off to do their respective chores. What Dana didn’t know, was that Abby had actually found the module, but asked Sasha to come down this weekend to help with it. The two schemed behind the farmer’s back and agreed that this would be a good show.

~~~~

A few more days passed, and Dana became very excited. She asked Sebastian if she could run her scenario on Saturday and he said yes immediately. She had suspected that he would pose some resistance to the idea, as running the game was his show, but he had admitted that he would like someone else to take the responsibility once in a while. Elated, time passed very slowly for Dana until Sasha arrived on Friday evening.

Sasha all but kicked down the door as she barged into the farm house. “WHERE IS MY COUNTRY BUMPKIN?” she shouted, dropping her bags onto the floor.

Dana stepped out of her bedroom, towel drying her hair with Sirius is tow. She shook her head and the big black dog eyed the new woman suspiciously.

She was tall, lithe in form with short pink hair that was black at the tips. She had bright teal eyes, a spattering of freckles along her pale cheeks, and a nose ring. She was wearing a black choker, a black and white striped t-shirt and tight black pants. There was a full sleeve of colorful tattoos adorning her arm. Looking at her, one could easily see where Dana had copied her style from.

“My partner in crime!” Dana shouted happily and she moved towards her friend very slowly. She stopped in front of her taller friend and narrowed her eyes, extending a hand. Sasha grinned, tried to take her hand but at the last minute pulled back and they both did a complicated gesture. 

Sirius gave the two a curious look. “It’s our secret handshake, Sirius. She’s one of the good guys,” Dana explained. The dog sniffed Sasha and gave her hand a tentative lick. Sasha kneeled down. 

“You sir, are a majestic beast. I hope you are taking care of my best friend. She’s a hot mess sometimes,” Sasha said to the dog.

Sirius boofed in affirmation, glad that someone had acknowledged his hard work.

The pink haired woman stood up and gave her friend a tight hug. She didn’t let go right away and her playful banter vanished. “How are you doing, love. Better after that nightmare?”

Dana smiled into the hug. “Yeah, I’m much better. I’ve found that….talking it out with some people has been helpful.”

“You know I’ve been telling you that for years…” Sasha said, breaking the hug.

“I know I know, but therapy is expensive and I don’t want to be a burden to my friends.”

“Listen sweet cheeks,” Sasha said, wrapping an arm around Dana’s shoulder. “You’re never a burden. If your friends think you are, they aren’t your friends. I’ve stuck with you all this time and I’ll never see you like that.”

“Thanks,” Dana said sheepishly then shook her head. “Enough mushy stuff, do you want to come meet my friends at the saloon? If not we can get into our PJs and watch a magical girl anime.”

“Damn I like both options. Why not both?” she said with a grin.

“Alright, let’s head to the saloon then,” Dana said. 

As the walked into town, they linked arms. They made quite the pair with their short hair, piercings and tattoos, but with Sasha’s air of confidence, they owned it.

“Say Dana….” Sasha began innocently.

“I know that look….”

“Is your friend Abby single?” the pink haired woman asked her best friend.

“She is, but that's ALL I’m telling you. If you are interested, then you need to find out more on your own,” Dana said adamantly. Sure, they had all played lots of video games together online, but meeting someone in person was completely different. Dana had thought she picked up a bit of flirtatious dialogue between her two friends, but tonight she’d see for sure if sparks would fly.

“That’s all I need to know, boo,” Sasha said and they stepped into the saloon. Dana gave Gus a wave and walked up to the bar, ordering two of the house lagers. 

She noticed that a few of the locals were giving Sasha a weird look, so Dana gave a loud introduction to Gus and Emily.

“Gus, Emily, this is my best friend Sasha. She’s here visiting from the city for the weekend. I’ve been telling her how good the food is here for months now,” Dana said with a big smile. This seemed to satisfy most people’s curiosity.

“Welcome welcome!” said the portly man. “I hope tonight I can live up to the expectation Miss Sasha. Your friends have already put in the order Dana, I’ll bring it out shortly.”

“Thank you!” Dana said with genuine friendliness. She’d always liked Gus, and he always made sure to put a little extra cheese on the pizza for her.

“Let’s go meet the crew! Pool room right?” Sasha said, all but dragging Dana into the next room as they grabbed their beers.

Sam was posed looking over the pool table, Abby was on her phone, and Sebastian was about to line up a shot when Sasha decided to make her grand entrance.

“Helllooooo new friends!” shouted a very tall, very pink woman as she burst through the entryway to the connecting room. She took a big sip of beer as the three friends looked over in curiosity. Dana face palmed and stepped up beside her. Sasha threw her arm around the farmer’s shoulder once more.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am the lovely, magical Sasha, the one and only best friend of one Dana, the uber nerd. I take it you are Sam with the anime boy hair, Sebastian of the clan of emos and you….” Sasha said, leaving Dana and sitting next to Abby. “Must be the lovely Abigail, am I right?”

Abby sat back against the couch. “Oh! Sasha...yes, I am. It’s nice to meet you in person!”

“Likewise. I love your hair….it makes your eyes pop.” Sasha complimented and Abby grinned. “Thanks! I love yours too….I’ve always wanted to try bubblegum pink.”

“Own it then, love. Be your bad self.”

Dana set her beer down on the table and crossed her arms, an amused look on her face. “Ya done now?”

Sasha sat back on the couch. “Yep. I mean, for now. Depends how many drinks I get in me really.”

Sam reached up and touched his hair subconsciously. “I mean, it's not THAT anime is it?”

“Didn’t say that was a bad thing. I love me some anime boys. They don’t give me the tingles like the anime girls do though…” she said with a wink to Abby, who turned slightly pink. 

Sebastian shook his head at the scene but smiled softly. He lined up his shot and perfectly executed it. Once finished he turned to the pink haired woman. “Hey.”

“Man of few words aren’t you? That’s okay. I’ll just watch. You’re right Dana, he _is_ hot.”

Dana choked on her beer after she said this. “Very funny Sasha…”

Her best friend gave her a wink. She saw Sebastian’s face flush slightly as he turned back around. The pink haired woman nudged Abby and gave her a wink. Abby caught on and nudged back. Very softly, Sasha whispered to Abby, “This was a great idea. I’m loving it. Good call on the game.” Abby simply nodded, trying to not appear too conspicuous. 

Sebastian lined up his next shot, but he couldn’t help but think, “ _Does she really think I’m hot or is her friend just messing with her? Hmm._ ” He sunk his next two balls in a row and Sam groaned.

“Wow, you are really good with your stick, Sebastian,” Sasha said with a mischievous glint in her eye. Dana snorted ungracefully, as did Sam.

Sebastian sighed. _Alright, two can play this game._

“I make sure to practice with it few times a week...at least,” he said casually, taking another shot.

“Ooo….this one’s fiesty. I like it,” the pink haired woman grinned.

Dana put her hand over her face. She couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. Here they were, making masturbation jokes in the public as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Sasha had that kind of effect on people. Her presence was both vulgar, but natural, and it didn’t take long before the group of five fell into easy conversation. Abby and Sasha chatted amicably while Sam, Sebastian and Dana played a three person game of pool. Sebastian, of course, won, but only narrowly.

The three friends shook hands to a great game, but noticed that the other two ladies were missing. Shrugging, they decided to call it a night anyway, thought Dana kept looking around for her friend.

It was late, and they were the last three to leave the saloon. Dana stepped out into the cool air and rounded the corner, trying to find Sasha. Sebastian and Sam were right behind her and all three came to a sudden stop. Sasha and Abby were otherwise occupied against the back wall of the saloon, and Dana tried her hardest to stifle a chuckle. The two boys were a little slack jawed at the scene, watching Sasha and Abby make out. Dana elbowed them both and dragged them around to the other side of the saloon. There, Dana burst out laughing. 

“Oh...I can’t wait to tease Sasha about this…” she said.

“I don’t know….that was really hot, right Seb?” Sam asked with a big smile and nudging his friend.

“Hah...sure was. It certainly makes saloon night a little more interesting.”

“Oh you guys….I’m going to give them another five minutes before I pry them apart with a crowbar and drag Sasha back to the farm.”

“Aww...do we have to leave?” Sam wheedled.

“Look, I’m as curious as the next person and yes, even I admit it’s hot...BUT they deserve some privacy don’t you think?” Dana asked, ruffling Sam’s hair. “Get on home you two.”

“Oh I get it….you are saving the good stuff for after we are gone! Sexy threesome?” Sam asked cheekily and Dana rolled her eyes.

“Obviously, Sam. I’m going to jump right into that pile of boobs the second you two are gone,” she said sarcastically.

“Don’t tempt me Frodo!” Sam said but Sebastian grabbed his arm, looking quite pink.

“I’ll make sure this perv gets home.”

“Me the perv? Seb I’ve seen your secret porn stash….and you can’t tell me that -” Sam started before Sebastian’s hand clamped over his mouth. Sebastian looked like he was ready to strangle his best friend.

Dana couldn’t help but laugh at Sebastian’s clear embarrassment, and would definitely save this bit of information for later. She watched Sebastian cart off Sam, giving her a little wave. She waved back and went to go break up her two friends.

When she got around to the other side of the building, she was relieved to see them both just chatting and laughing.

“So are you going to hop in on this threesome or what?” Sasha grinned, while Abby blushed.

“Very funny. I guess we were pretty loud.”

“Mhmm...though I have to say….I’m curious as to what kind of filthy, degenerate porn your emo boy is into…” Sasha said, looking thoughtful. 

Dana sighed. “Come on you….we have magical girl anime to watch. Abby do you want us to walk you back?”

“Nah, I’ve got it, it isn’t far. I’ll see you too tomorrow!” she said happily, a happy spring in her step.

When they were alone and walking back towards the farm, Dana gave Sasha a sly look.

“So….” she said.

“So….” Sasha reiterated.

“Abby, huh?” Dana grinned like the cat who caught the canary.

“Hey, shut up, I actually really like her. She’s cute, and she’s funny, and she likes dark shit. I think we might have a connection…” Sasha went on.

“Alright I get it….I’m sure Abby is thrilled too. I hope it works out for you two. Its long distance after all…” Dana mentioned.

“Dana, it's like a 45 minute drive to the city….it’s not that bad. Besides, I should visit you more anyway….make sure you aren’t getting into trouble.”

“Uh huh, and who’s the one that usually starts all the trouble?” Dana smiled.

“Oh right, that’s me!”

The two laughed as they entered the farmhouse and got into their PJs for the night.

~~~~~~~~~

The smell of pancakes wafted through the house as Dana stood in front of her stove, in her dragon slippers and PJ shorts. She was in such a good mood, she began singing and dancing to herself, using her mixing spoon as a make-shift microphone.

She heard the shower turn on, and assumed that Sasha had finally stumbled out of bed upstairs.

The farmer turned back to the pan, swaying her hips back and forth as she belted out part of a 80s power ballad, which was conveniently playing from her phone. She was so loud in fact, that she didn’t hear the light knock on the door, or the door being pushed opened.

She kept mixing the bowl, taking a second to remove the spoon to use as a prop for a particular powerful bar of the song. She returned the spoon, and poured out the next couple pancakes.

“So, why didn’t you tell me you wanted a career on Broadway?” a deep voice said from the door.

Dana whipped around, color draining from her face.

Leaning up against the wall was Sebastian, holding his phone out in front of him, clearly recording her dramatic performance. He had a smirky grin on his face as he looked at her.

“HEY! Haven’t you heard of knocking?!” Dana shouted.

“I did knock. You were too loud to hear it,” he grinned.

“Wait, are you recording me?!?”

“Maybe.”

Dana marched right up to him and put the batter covered spoon dangerously close to his chest. “Delete that right now.”

“...make me,” he challenged, holding his phone way over her head. She growled and flicked the spoon at him, spraying batter in his face.

“Nope. You’re going to have to do better than that.”

Dana stomped over to her plate of pancakes, covered one with some whipped cream that she had in a separate bowl, casually walked over to him and smashed it in his face.

Caught off guard, he stood there frozen. “You got whipped cream on my hoodie!” he shouted, licking some of the whipped cream off his face. “This means war.”

Dana yipped and darted back towards the stove, and quickly got her spatula. She held it out in front of her like a weapon while she tilted the pan and removed the next few cooked pancakes.

She laughed as bits of the food were still sliding down his face, though he did remove a big chunk and eat it. “Oh hey does this have pumpkin? It's good.”

“Thanks but don’t you dare come closer. I know kung fu.”

“No you don’t,” Sebastian said, eyeing the plate of pancakes behind her.

“I could, you don’t know.”

“Alright lets even up the playing field,” he said, smirking and opening up her refrigerator. He locked on to the whipped cream can and held the nozzle in front of him.

“Don’t you dar-” Dana began to warn, right before receiving a face full of whipped cream.

“AUGG!!! That’s it!” Dana said, stepping towards him. He turned to run but she jumped onto his back, waving her hand and trying to grab his phone. “GIVE. IT. TO.ME!”

“NO! Get off!” He said, trying to shake her off his back.

It was at this moment that Sasha descended the stairs...only to see Dana, covered in whipped cream, on Sebastian’s back looking ready to kill him. She noticed he was also covered in cream and smirked.

“So is it too early in the morning for ‘facial’ jokes? No? How about that lovely pearl necklace Sebastian gave you, Dana?” the pink haired girl said, cocking her hip to the side, and crossing her arms, a big smile on her face.

Despite their covered faces, Sasha could see the blush forming. Dana dropped off Sebastian’s back immediately.

“Oh just make out already,” Sasha finished.

“It’s not what it looks like! Seb recorded me singing in my PJs and he won’t delete it. I had to take drastic measures.”

“Oh was she doing her Celene Dion impression? I could hear it from the shower.”

“Yep,” Sebastian said simply.

“Oh, well okay you are totally justified then.”

“SASHA! Fucks sake, I’m surrounded,” Dana huffed, getting a small towel to wipe her face. She handed a second one to Sebastian.

“Hey, that pancake was good. Can I have more?” Sebastian asked.

Dana sighed. “Yeah, both of you have a seat, I’ve got plenty more to make.”

“YASSSSSS,” Sasha said, pouring some coffee and sitting down excitedly. “Dana makes the best pumpkin pancakes.”

Sebastian picked a bit off his hoodie and ate it. “I can see that,” he said while chewing.

Dana went back to preparing some more pancakes, thrusting a mug of coffee at Sebastian.

“Here. Don’t think you are off the hook, I swear if you send that video to anyone -” the farmer threatened.

“Oooo send it to me please?” Sasha wheedled.

“Done,” Sebastian grinned.

“I get no respect. Hey wait a minute, what are you even doing here Seb? You usually don’t rise before the sun sets.”

“Very funny. I actually came over to see if you both wanted to go over the scenario for later since it’s your first time,” he said casually, grabbing another pancake and shoveling it in his mouth.

“I’ve read it over twice but...I’m still a little nervous…” she began.

Sebastian sat back. “Well, I guess the best advice I could give you is to improvise...and don’t let us know if you fuck up….we won’t be able to tell the difference anyway.”

“It’s just a game, love. As long as we are having fun, it’ll all be fine,” Sasha contributed.

“Cool….I hope you guys are prepared for the hot vampire sex orgy RP I’ve got planned for tonight.”

Sebastian nearly choked on his coffee.

“Ooo...all boys or did you throw in some vampire ladies for me?” Sasha asked.

Dana gave her a look, “Of COURSE I did. There is a harem waiting for you.”

“Yesssssss…..” Sasha grinned.

“I hope you are joking…” Sebastian said, trying to judge whether or not the two were serious.

“We’ll find out later won’t we?” Dana said sweetly, putting another stack of pancakes in front of her friends.

As it turned out, Dana was just joking. Sebastian read through part of the module with her (he didn’t want too many spoilers after all) and gave her a few pointers on how to run the scenario. She took a few notes while Sasha combed through her DVD collection, obviously bored by all this ‘profession’ game master talk.

Sebastian bid the ladies farewell in the early afternoon and went home to set up the table.

 

As soon as he left, Sasha inched closer to Dana on the couch, closer than what could normally be considered personal space.

“Girl. You’ve got it BAD,” Sasha commented.

“Oh fuck off…” Dana said, hitting her with a pillow.

“I’m serious!” Sasha said, narrowly dodging the attack. “And by the looks of it, so does he. I seriously think you should go for it.”

“That’s just wishful thinking…but maybe….maybe I have feelings for him. But I can’t be sure he feels the same way and I don’t want to push him away,” Dana said.

“....right. Yoba you are so dense,” Sasha said, throwing up her arms. She grinned like a cheshire cat. “I bet he would give you a WILD night of the craziest sex you can imagine. It’s always the quiet ones that are the most devious...”

Dana’s face went beet red at the thought. “SASHA!” she giggled, tossing another pillow at her friend.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Later that night, the group of five gathered around the table in Sebastian’s basement. Instead of sitting at the head of the table, Sebastian sat off to the side, allowing Dana to take the reigns. She was a little nervous, he could tell from the way she dropped a few pieces, but they all reassured her that it would be a great time.

Dana setup the map and pieces, dividing up the character sheets for everyone.

“Ooo….vampire hunter assassin, I love it. So edgy,” Sasha commented, looking over her sheet. 

“Dark mage, huh? Alright, that sounds fun,” Sebastian commented.

“Why do I have to heal?” Abby whined.

“Someone has to, and I’m running the game. And besides, you’re a cleric in service of an eldritch god, you can do more than just heal,” Dana replied.

“Alright! Werewolf warrior, I dig it,” Sam said.

“Alright...so here is the scenario...you are a rag-tag group of mercenaries who met in a bar some time ago. For convenience, you have decided to stick together because there is greater power, and money, in numbers. You have been contacted by the local authorities to investigate a luxurious manor on the northside of town. There have been a suspicious number of blood-draining related deaths surrounding the manor, and the town constable wants you to investigate - and deal with - this problem. He will even double the reward if you do this mission quietly, so as not to alert or upset the rest of the town.

It’s nightfall, and you four have gathered at the tavern to collect your thoughts and form a gameplan. Sam, for your character, it is NOT a full moon.”

“Noted! Do I know anything about vampires?” Sam asked.

“Good question, roll a history check,” Dana instructed and Sam picked up a 20-sided dice.

“15.” 

“You know that the vampires do exist, and several of the usual stereotypes are true - they can’t be in sunlight, they drink blood to survive, and sleep in coffins. However, they usually are more discreet, and prefer not to kill most of their victims, as it always points a big arrow to them. Like many races, not all of them are evil - some just want to live their lives. Some even have consensual thralls.”

“Can I seduce the waitress?” Sasha said, raising her hand.

“Yoba damn it Sasha not this again, fine you can certainly try,” Dana said, facepalming already.

“...Oh...I got a 2.”

“The waitress is taken aback, screams at you “I HAVE A BOYFRIEND” and dumps a beer over your head. You are now wet and minus one drink,” Dana grinned mischievously.

“Spoilsport…” Sasha grumbled.

“I shake my head is disapproval but cast Prestidigitation to clean up the mess around Sasha...we don’t want to be causing a scene this early in the night,” Sebastian said, sighing.

Dana smiled….”Ok….so what would you like to do now?”

~~~~~~~~

The game pressed on the the four adventurer’s decided to take the backdoor approach and sneak into the manor at dawn. Sasha’s assassin was able to pick the intricate lock on the door, and the gang pressed forward.

They investigated the house and found numerous traps and monster guards, disarming and killing them respectively. They managed to pick up a few magical weapons, and a few notes of information located behind locked doors.

The manor itself was very well kept. However, there were blood stains caked into the carpet and floor, one trail leading downstairs. Following this clue, the group found a few chained up humans and set them free. Frightened, they did not give much useful information, except for one man who kept saying “they would never do this…”.

By now, the sun was beginning to set, and the group was making slow progress. In the cellar with the prisoners they found a secret room guarded by a nasty gargoyle that asked them for three answers to three puzzles.

Sebastian, being the most intelligent of the party, was able to answer these easily and the gargoyle swung open. Suddenly, another trap sprung and a couple ghouls attacked the group. Sam pulled out his greatsword and made short work of them while Abby did an excellent job shielding him and the rest of the party.

In the room stood a pedestal with an open tome. Sebastian looked over it and saw that the open page described a ritual for controlling vampires. It was at that moment that the door to the secret room slammed shut, and a dark figure in wizard robes appeared. His face was obscured by a large hood and in a deep voice he revealed himself to be a powerful necromancer. Assuming that his trap would kill the group, he went into a very typical villain dialogue, explaining how he was controlling the vampires to kill townsfolk he didn’t like.

Sasha was instantly suspicious, and rolled an investigation check.

“Woo! I got a critical success! 20!”

“You lucky bitch!” Dana said with a smile. “Because of the crit, you notice his voice sounds familiar...you’ve definitely heard it before and it sounds almost like the town constable…”

“HAH! Someone pick up the phone, because I fucking CALLED IT!” the pink haired woman cheered. “I want to expose him!”

“You don’t get the chance….he attacks! Roll for initiative!”

The four took turns rolling their dice and beginning combat. The necromancer was very powerful and managed to block and prevent Abby’s shield spells. Likewise, he has his own shield that blocked most of Sam’s attacks. Sasha did a sneak attack with her dagger that managed to pierce his defences briefly.

Seeing that this was not getting them anywhere, Sebastian cast a spell that lowered the necromancer’s shield and removed the magic block on Abby. Now that Sam was back in action, he swung his sword mightily. He managed to bite into the dark man, but not before the necromancer launched a Decay spell on the warrior. Sam’s dominant arm began to shrivel.

Abby jumped into action and cast a Restore spell on Sam, burning her turn but allowing Sam’s arm to return to full health. As a last ditch effort, the necromancer focused a death ray on Sebastian’s mage, but Sasha rolled another 20 and was able to sweep the legs so that the spell launched itself towards a mirror, rebounded, and hit the necromancer square in the chest.

He wailed as his hood flew back, revealing the constable. His body crumbled into dust. The party was victorious! 

They looted the room, taking the tome and various other magical artifacts with them.

“Once you return to town, you speak to the mayor and tell him what happened - that the vampires were being mind controlled by the constable and he had hired you as a trap to eliminate a threat to his operation. You are all lauded as heroes and given twice the reward the constable had promised you!” Dana said, smiling.

“Alright! I’d say we can an A grade for that one,” Sam grinned. “Go team!”

“That was awesome!” Sasha said. “What happens to the vampires?”

“They go about their business, albeit more discreetly. If you go back to them, you would realize that these are the type that don’t actually kill people and prefer to have willing companions.”

“Is there a lady vampire…?” Sasha said coquettishly.

“Yes…. don’t you dar…” Dana began.

“I roll to seduce the vampire.”

“Fucks sake, FINE.”

“Woo! 18!” Sasha said, doing a little dance with her arms

“You and your bullshit rolls, alright. The sexy vampiress, Bianca, is smitten with you and is so grateful for your help that she takes you upstairs and offers you a night of passionate lesbian vampire sex.”

“Cha CHING! I win the game!” Sasha put her fist in the air triumphantly.

“...Yes Sasha...you win the game. Congrats.” Dana said, shaking her head at her best friend but chuckling.

Sebastian watched the exchange with amusement. He turned to look at Dana, a soft smile on his face. He was very proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and giving them a fun night. She was surprisingly good at it and Sebastian couldn’t help but feel flutters in his stomach. It was at this moment that he realized something very important.

“Hellloooooo earth to Sebastian. I said, we are leaving!” Abby said, smirking. 

“Oh right, bye guys. Great job Dana, that was a really fun scenario,” he said as she was cleaning up her papers. 

“I’m glad you all enjoyed it!” Dana said sincerely. “Thanks for not going too off the rails for my first time…”

“Anytime,” Sebastian smiled, never looking away from her. Sasha noticed and dragged Sam and Abby upstairs with a “Bye nerds!” 

“I should go,” Dana said. “I don’t trust Sasha to not get into trouble in the 20 minute walk between our houses.”

“Um yeah, of course. I’ll see you later,” he said rather softly. Dana smiled and yawned, heading out the door. “Later!”

~~~~~~~~

Once the game was over and Sebastian was alone in his thoughts, his heart kept racing. He laid in bed staring at the ceiling, but couldn’t get comfortable. Shoving the pillows aside he went to his computer and saw Sam’s name listed as online.

**Sebastian** : You’re right. You’re totally right….I’ve been so stupid.

**Sam** : I mean, yeah you usually are but what in particular this time.

Sebastian hesitated, but he had to get it off his chest or he felt like he might burst.

**Sebastian** : I’m in love with her.

**Sam** FINALLY you admit it. I think you are the last to know.

**Sebastian** I….don’t know what to do. I could ruin our friendship and I don’t want that….

**Sam** : My dude. JUST. ASK. HER. OUT. I’m sure she’d say yes.

**Sebastian** : Do you think so?

**Sam** : FOR FUCKS SAKE. Yes. She’s been giving you heart eyes for months. I’m surprised she hasn’t done it herself actually.

**Sebastian** : Ok….ok….I’ll do it. 

**Sasha** : Sweet! Let me know how it goes bro!

Sebastian logged off and went back to his bed, thoughts swimming on how he was going to do it. An idea formed in his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a huge nerd....I know. Sorry not sorry.


	17. Starry Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian takes Dana to his special spot overlooking the valley.

After having the chat with Sam, Sebastian decided it was time to make a move. That following Friday, he was feeling both nervous and excited, and paced around his room, holding the multicolored flower bouquet in his hand. He’d been blushing furiously when he bought it from Pierre earlier in the day and he thought he might die of embarrassment.

“Dana,” he rehearsed, “I would like to be your boyfriend.”

“ _No,_ ” He thought, “ _That’s terrible._ ”

“Dana,” he tried again, “So uh, are you single?” 

“ _Duh idiot, of course she is single. Fucks sake._ ” 

“Dana, you are the moon and stars - GAH NO. Oh this is going to go wrong...so so wrong…” he said, sitting down heavily on his couch. He took a deep breath and put the flowers in his bag. His palms were sweaty and his anxiety was through the roof right now, wondering what he was going to say. Despite that, he managed to get out the door and onto his motorcycle, heading towards the farm. He decided that winging it might be the better option. 

Dana had agreed to go with him on this little trip, though he didn’t mention where. Just that he was cashing in the favor to give her a nice ride out in the valley. When he arrived, he saw her there, standing outside the door and ready to go. She was wearing her usual blue shirt and black pants, with the addition of a dark button up sweater. He couldn’t be sure due to the lack of daylight, be he could have sworn she was wearing a little bit more makeup than usual. His heart hammered in his chest as he looked at her, and he was grateful for his helmet. He reached around and threw her his spare helmet. “Hop on...I want to show you something” he said, smiling, though she couldn’t see it. 

She grinned and it only made his stomach flutter more. She straddled the bike behind him, putting the helmet on, and gripping him around the waist. “Let’s go then,” she said, smiling into his back. His body felt warm and safe, but she still let out a WHOOP! as the motorcycle took off into the night. He laughed at her reaction, but it took all of his focus to keep the bike steady on the road and not focus on her soft hands touching him. 

Dana felt as though she could stay like this for a long time...holding onto his warm body as the road passed along. She turned her head and saw the trees whip past them and the sounds of crickets chirping fading into the forest. There was no one on the road and it filled her with a certain peacefulness, thought it didn’t fully calm down the butterflies in her stomach. She had wondered what the purpose of this little adventure was but she didn’t dare hope too much…. 

After a little while, Sebastian pulled to a stop along a cliff overlooking Stardew Valley. In the distance, the city lights sparkled. She removed her helmet, shaking out her mess of hair. He hopped down first, taking off his helmet then offering her his hand, which she gratefully took. It was soft and warm in her palm, and she noticed that he didn’t let go. 

Instead, Sebastian led her to the cliff. “I come here a lot to think…” he said, sitting down. She followed suit, their hands still linked together. 

As Sebastian sat with Dana in his special spot overlooking the city, she gazed at what should have been a scenic picture, but sighed. “It gives me a strange, sad feeling.” 

“I was going to say the same thing. The city just doesn’t hold the same appeal to me as it once did….a childish fantasy I guess. After meeting you, I don’t know….life here doesn’t seem so bad. I’m finding myself happier at home here in the valley...” he said, tracing the top of her hand gently with his finger. 

Dana blushed. “That’s nice of you to say...especially after those mean things I said....” 

Sebastian smiled. “It may not have been tactful, but it was honest. I think I needed a good kick in the ass to see things for how they really were.” 

The dark haired man turned his face towards Dana. “I don’t ever bring people here…..you are the first...I...I hope you understand what I’m saying.” 

Dana smiled, looking him in the eyes. She noticed a faint blush across his cheeks. “Are you saying I’m special?” 

“You’re the most special person in my life,” he said quietly. “You give my life meaning...I want to be a better person because of you…” To accentuate his statement, he took his pack of cigarettes and tossed it over the cliff. 

“Seb….damn it I’m gonna cry,” Dana said, her eyes clouding up. She put a hand up to stroke his face. Sebastian’s hand came up and joined hers on his cheek, lingering on her fingers. 

“So are we….on the same page here?” he said, gazing into her eyes. 

Dana’s heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. “Why don’t you kiss me and see?” she said boldly. 

Taking this as all the encouragement he needed, he moved his head forward, tilting it slightly and placing a soft and gentle kiss on her lips. Slowly, he began to move his lips against hers, savoring their taste - which oddly enough reminded him of cinnamon. He raised his hand to cup her cheek, caressing her soft and tender skin. 

It was like lightning had struck. Dana’s body felt warm as she melted into the kiss. In turn, the farmer moved her hand to the back of his neck as his free hand wrapped around her waist. The butterflies in her stomach refused to settle down, especially when his tongue began lightly probing her lips. She parted them, allowing him entrance and the kiss deepened. The fire began to spread from her lips all the way through her body as she pulled him down to the ground. He settled on top of her, mouths still pressed together and tongues dancing. His kiss was addicting, and she could not find the will within her to stop. His lips were soft and moved against her own in perfect sync, and she thought for a moment that Sebastian was _really_ good at this. 

It was Sebastian who eventually broke the kiss, and for both of them, it seemed like hours had passed, though it was only a few minutes. Time seemed to stop as they stared into each others eyes, sharing emotions that were too difficult to express with words. He gave her a goofy grin and his cheeks were flushed. Dana didn’t look much better - in fact she felt like a school girl with her first crush. In reality, this wasn’t far from the truth as no other man has ever made her feel this way. 

“I love you,” he said simply, kissing her softly on the lips. 

“I love you too…” she said, leaning up and returning his gentle kiss with one of her own. The stars glistened in the sky above them as their mouths pressed against each others once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY! This short chapter because the continuation of this is smut, so skip the next chapter if you don't want to read that >:)


	18. Starry Confessions - Part 2 (Smut)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skip this chapter if you don't want to read smut!
> 
> Sebastian and Dana show their love for each other.

Their kisses were slow and languid, as if each were committing this entire encounter to memory. He traced over her lips with his tongue and she let out a soft moan. At hearing the sound, Sebastian pressed his mouth harder against hers and she eagerly responded. The kisses got deeper and more passionate and Dana could feel their effects rest against her mound. Sebastian tried to adjust himself, but the farmer’s strong hands slid up his hoodie and grabbed his back, pressing him even tighter to her. The friction was delightful as her hips bucked up slightly as a reflex. The fire that started early was picking up speed and was rapidly consuming her.

Sebastian, having a moment of confidence, pressed back against her, letting out his own deep moan into her mouth. Soon though, he realized he wouldn’t be able to keep up this pace without resulting in an...embarrassing situation, and broke the kiss. They panted against each others lips.

“A-are we moving too fast?” he managed to stutter out, his eyes half lidded and filled with desire.

A similar look was mimicked on the farmer’s face. “Not fast enough I’d say. I’ve wanted to feel your body for months…” she admitted.

Sebastian’s face was now beet red as he shifted his hardness on top of her. “I….um….I’ve never done this before,” he confessed nervously.

Dana looked at him with affection, twirling a strand of his hair between her fingers. “Really? A sexy man like you?”

Sebastian smiled shyly. “I was never really interested in anyone before...not when visiting the city, and certainly not here….most people just annoy me. Abby and I fooled around in high school and apparently giving me a handjob confirmed to her that dicks are gross and she is 100% as lesbian. That didn’t exactly do wonders for my confidence.”

Dana couldn’t help but laugh, breaking some of the tension. “Well it's her loss! But I’ll let you in on a little secret,” she began pulling him closer, “I _love_ dicks. Love them.”

Sebastian smiled in relief. “So you don’t mind that I’ve never had sex before?”

“Of course not, I think it’s rather endearing actually...and I’m happy to hopefully be your first,” she smirked.

“So you’ve…” he began.

“Yes, but nothing serious. It was purely for physical release….most of the times I just take care of myself. I’ve never felt anything the way I feel for you Seb….it’s like you’ve woken up something in me I didn’t know was there,” she whispered, holding onto both sides of his face and giving him a reassuring kiss. He grinned into the kiss and held onto her tightly. It lingered for a moment, some of the heat from before starting to rekindle. She could feel him, hard as a rock even through all their clothes. An idea sparked in her mind and she broke the kiss.

“Hey...I want to do something special for you,” she said, rolling out from under him and standing up. She offered him her hand and he took it, confused.

“What are we ---?” he began but Dana hushed him with a finger over his mouth.

“You’ll see…” she winked and took his hand, leading him over to a nearby tree. She gestured for him to sit down with his back against the tree and legs stretched out in front of him. He did so, and she sat down on his lap, pressing her ample breasts against his chest. She grinned as her mouth consumed his in a fevered kiss. His hands stayed frustratingly on her back, but she decided that she was going to have to teach this newbie a thing or two.

She grabbed his hands and placed them on her breasts. His shock broke the kiss.

“Its okay, you can touch me _wherever_ you want,” she growled against his neck, planting small kisses on it. “Feel them, squeeze them….not too hard though. Play with the nipples…” she instructed, still placing hot kisses along his jaw and throat. She latched onto a particular spot and sucked.

Sebastian had never felt this much sensation in his life and he was quickly drowning in happiness. He had been secretly fantasizing about this moment ever since he first saw her in her low cut shirt at the saloon that night. He often wondered if they felt as wonderful as they looked so he did as she asked, molding and kneading her breasts in his hand. His question was answered. They felt soft, and firm, and he had an urge to suckle on them. Clothes being in the way, he settled for rolling her nipples between his fingers but pulled them away quickly as if stung.

“What the -” he asked, confused, as Dana chuckled.

“Nipple rings,” she said plainly, moving up to suck on his earlobe.

“....that is so fucking hot,” he moaned, his fingers resuming their ministrations. He decided to be more adventurous and snaked a hand down the back of her pants to grab a chunk of her round, voluptuous ass.

She yipped against his ear, feeling her body being pressed harder against his. “Ooooo….there we go.” Her hips began gyrating against his, feeling his member strain against his pants. Dana moved back a little bit and kissed down his neck, over the fabric of his hoodie until her face was right by his crotch. She let out hot breaths over the bulging fabric and kissed his hardness.

Sebastian let out a strained moan. This can’t be real. Here he was, at his favorite place, with his favorite person….about to do _things_. 

Dana looked into his eyes for confirmation. “Is this okay? We don’t have to go farther right now if you want to take it slow…”

The dark haired man nodded vigorously. “Please….c-continue.”

The farmer grinned devilishly, and for a moment, Sebastian was concerned, but that faded quickly once she unzipped his jeans. She moved them down over his hips, her eyes never leaving the sight of his cock straining against his black boxer briefs. She licked her lips subconsciously. This image was definitely going into her spank bank for later.

She kissed the tip of his cock through the fabric and felt it twitch. Deciding she had teased her poor lover enough, she pulled his boxers down, releasing his aching shaft. It bobbed there and her sapphire eyes sparkled in delight. He was above average in length, a little thicker than most with a smooth shaft that had a slight curve to it. She chanced a look up at his face and saw that his cheeks were burning and his eyes were shut tight.

Dana placed her mouth over the tip and sucked gently. Her hand came around and gripped the base of his shaft, moving slowly and enjoying the feel of him. Sebastian’s eyes flew open at the feeling and he let out a deep, loud moan. His hands gripped the grass next to him. Taking this as encouragement, Dana began slowly sinking her mouth down, an inch at a time before pulling back. Her hand mimicked the motion. She felt his hips begin to buck up slightly, meeting her mouth.

Sebastian had never felt anything so incredible in his life...up until that point at least. Dana could already taste the drops of pre-cum leaking from his head. His breathing became shallow and inconsistent and she knew it wouldn’t take long. She tilted her head and took all of him into her mouth and down her throat.

“Ohh...ohh...oh fuck...Dana….I’m not….I’m n-not gonna last,” he stuttered out, panting heavily. He hands snaked through her hair as he held her head. He didn’t force her down, he was too shy for that, but his hands needed to grip something.

Dana grinned around his cock and after a few times down her throat, she resumed a more shallow bob, her hand pumping faster as she sucked on him. She removed her mouth with a pop, her hand still working hard, in order to tell him, “Cum for me, Seb. I want to feel it drip down my throat….” As soon as her mouth hit his cock again, he exploded, pumping wave after wave of cum into her waiting mouth. She moaned in delight as she felt his grasp on her hair tighten, and heard a loud, almost feral groan emit from his mouth.

Finally, after the last drops were swallowed, Sebastian sunk down against the tree...a pleased and goofy expression on his face. “Oh my Yoba…..wow….that was incredible.”

Dana chuckled at the look on his face and wiped the corner of her mouth off with her hand. “A little trick to help give you some stamina...I’m not done with you yet,” she said seductively.

“I hope not….I still have to repay the favor,” he said, panting.

She grinned and stood up, brushing off her pants. “Then lets head back to my place….I want to be on a bed when we continue this….” she said, helping him stand up. He tucked himself back into his pants and walked over to his motorcycle, grabbing the helmets and offering her one. 

“Better hold on tight, I’m going to be driving _really_ fast,” he grinned, that stupid smile not leaving his face. She sat behind him on the bike, wrapping her arms around her middle. She kissed his back and they set off towards the farm. During the ride, Dana took the opportunity to rub her hands along his chest underneath his hoodie. It took all of Sebastian’s resolve not to pull over and have her right there on his motorcycle.

About 20 minutes later, Sebastian parked in front of her house and hopped off it rapidly. As soon as Dana’s helmet was off, he scooped her up in his arms bridal style and she squealed.

“Seb!” she giggled, and he just grinned carrying her over to the door. He was radiating happiness, and she could tell. He turned the knob and opened the door, shutting it behind him. He gently put her on her feet, but she barely had a chance to take her shoes off before he was upon her. He kissed her so passionately that it made her legs shake. He pressed her against the wall and her hands snaked around to tug his hoodie off. His shirt soon followed, as well as her own as their frenzy continued. She could feel him, hard and ready against her mound and she couldn’t contain her excitement. 

She regretfully broke the kiss, lips swollen. “Bedroom. Now” she rasped out, eyes half lidded and blown with lust. She grabbed his hand and drug him into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind them. His free hand rapidly undid his pants, stepping out of them and his underwear, nearly tripping in the process. She ogled him as he stood there, ready to pounce on her. His arms and chest were fairly toned, most likely from working on his bike, and his stomach was flat. He didn’t really have abs persay, but there was a delicious looking v traveling from his waist to his crotch, where her treasure bobbed there heavily. She gave him hooded eyes and crooked a finger, beckoning him to come closer. “Come here, you gorgeous man…”

Sebastian couldn’t keep his lips to himself as he resumed the kiss. It was like a spark of desire turned into a full fledged fire that seemed like it would never die. They fell on the bed together and he tugged at her bra. He let out a frustrated whine as he fumbled with the clasp. Realizing he had probably never removed one before, she reached around and removed it, baring herself before him.

He propped himself up on his elbows and stared at her breasts. They looked even more appealing than they had in his fantasies. His eyes roamed over her curves, watching them as they jiggled slightly. Each of her breasts had perky pink nipples, studded with silver rings. He couldn’t help himself and pressed his face against them, his hands massaging her soft flesh. She moaned as she felt his lips press against her nipple, sucking on it hard. He swirled his tongue over the nub and the ring, pulling on it with his teeth.

“F-f-fuck….yes Seb….that’s so good….” she groaned, squirming under him. She pressed her thighs together, trying to relieve some of the burning desire coursing through her body. Seeing this, her lover quickly sat up, unbuttoned her jeans and tugged them down. She noticed she was wearing a set of lacy, dark blue panties with little black bands criss crossing on the hips. He yanked those down just as rapidly.

“You are so beautiful…” he said, taking in all of her body. Her face was flushed, wanton desire clearly showing through her eyes. She was breathing heavily, pushing up her breasts. The dark dragon tattoo wound itself around her upper arm, slightly glistening with sweat. His eyes continued to pore over her, taking in her flat stomach and plump mound, shining with her juices. “Every part of you….” he whispered, his finger trailing down to her slit. Dana blushed and smiled at the compliment, feeling suddenly rather shy. “T-thanks…”

He laid back down with his face on her breast. “Yoba, I love these….” he said, the words muffled by her cleavage. His finger grazed over the soft, hairless flesh of her womanhood. “No hair, huh?” 

“It gets too scratchy,” she replied, running a hand through his wild hair. He fell to the side of her other breast and it tickled her, causing her to chuckle slightly. 

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Your hair tickles!” she exclaimed. He grinned. “Does it now?” he responded, burying his whole face between her breasts and shaking his head. She shrieked with laughter.

“You goober,” she said when he finally stopped, her nerves calmed.

“Sorry,” he said, with no trace of actual remorse. “Now where was I….” he said, wrapping his mouth around her nipple once more. He circled his tongue around the tip, flicking it every now and then. Then he opened his whole mouth and devoured it hungrily.

“Ooo!....mmmm…” she squirmed under him. Taking this as encouragement, he let his hand wander down the curve of her waist. She felt unbelievably soft as he traced the soft line of her hips down to her thigh. He was still very nervous...after all, all of his knowledge of the female form was based on internet articles and porn. Feeling her move her hips into his hand, he felt as though he was doing good so far.

However, the slow pace was killing Dana. She hadn’t been this aroused in….ever come to think of it. “Touch me, Seb...please..” she pleaded with lustful eyes. Blushing, he shifted his body off to her side, face still at her breast and slowly dragged a finger across her slit. She shivered in excitement.

He slid a finger down the front and between her lips which were slick and inviting. He used this bit of lubrication to slide his finger back and forth across her opening, grazing over her clit in the process. She let out a strained moan as he entered her slowly with a single finger. Her hips bucked a little in reflex. “Yes….” she whispered.

Hearing her make these noises was doing nothing to alleviate the tension in his own crotch, but that could wait. Right now, he was focused on her and making sure he did a good job. He pulled the finger out, only to press it back in again, eliciting another delicious moan from his lover. Feeling adventurous, he coated a second finger in her juices and had it join the first. Dana cried out.

He stopped. “Shit….D-did I hurt you?” he asked with rising concern.

“N-no...it feels good….really good….don’t stop, don’t you dare stop,” she was able to ramble out.

Feeling relieved, he continued. He set a slow pace at first, getting the rhythm down and watching her for any little movement or noise. He watched carefully as his fingers disappeared inside her. When he twisted his fingers, or crooked them in a certain way, it seemed to get an even better response, as her mewling got louder and louder.

Realizing he had a favor he owed, and wanted to do something he’d always wanted to do, he removed his fingers and kissed down her stomach, stopping by her slit.

The farmer whined. “Nooooo…..why’d you stop?”

“Because I believe I owe you a favor…” he grinned mischievously as he licked a line from the bottom of her opening to the top of her lips. She shivered.

“Oh...OH!....oh by all means….continue….” 

“Mhmmm….” he mumbled into her mound. “ _Let’s see what I can remember….I think I’m suppose to suck on this..._ ” he thought to himself.

Sebastian placed his lips over her clit and began to suck on it. Dana felt a wave of pleasure wash over her and let out a loud, sinful moan. He took turns in between sucking on her nub, and running the length of his tongue over her opening. Feeling bold, he pressed his tongue inside her hole, getting coated in her slick. Dana’s hands crept down and laced themselves within his hair, pressing his face closer and urging him on.

“You taste amazing….” he said in wonder. He slowly added both fingers to her opening while his mouth was busy sucking on her clit. The farmer was rapidly drowning in pleasure and let out a wanton keening sound. God, he could listen to this forever. He ached to be inside her, but he was determined to give her pleasure first.

“F-fuck….fuck that feels good Seb...just like that….just like….yess…” she began to ramble.

At one point, he shoved his fingers as far in as they would go and crooked his finger in a ‘come hither’ gesture. 

“Fuck! Do it again!” she cried out. Grinning against her lips, he did just that….over...and over again.

Her moaning increased tenfold and he was glad that her cabin was so isolated. He wouldn’t even be surprised if they heard her all the way in town. But he didn’t mind...he was turned on by the fact that she was so vocal. The dark haired man felt an immense swelling of pride that it was him that was causing this beautiful woman to look so debauched in his hands. He looked up for a moment, saw her hips gyrating against his face and her breasts bouncing. Moaning against her clit and sucking on it hard, he finally heard the words he was waiting for.

“S-seb...Seb….I’m gonna…..” she began, but couldn’t get out the words.

A few more strokes and she became undone. Her thighs began to quake around his head as she writhed around, pressing his face hard against herself. She screamed to the high heavens as her juices gushed around his face, and he eagerly lapped them up, his fingers never relenting. She pulsed around him, squeezing his fingers hard.

Eventually, her body began to still and he removed his fingers. As she lay there, staring at the ceiling and collecting her thoughts, he moved his body up to kiss her cheek. “Was that okay?” he asked, somewhat nervously.

“Ffuuccck….that felt amazing….how did you know how to do that?” she asked curiously.

He blushed. “I’ve watching a lot of porn. And I did some research.”

“Well it paid off,” she chuckled and turned her head, giving him a slow kiss and tasting herself on his lips. Now it was her turn to explore. Her hand roamed from his chest, down this is waist and hip, and tracing the v down to his groin. She brushed up against his cock and it was just as hard as it was earlier in the woods. She licked her lips and she gripped him, only to be rewarded with a delightful moan right into her ear.

“Well we can’t let this go to waste can we?” she cooed, lightly moving his body so that he was on his back. She wasted no time in straddling him, resting her still wet lips on top of his shaft. He squirmed underneath her weight, generating a pleasant friction and he failed at holding back a lewd moan.

She slid him between her lips and watched him closely. Trails of her wetness were dripping down his chin and his face, which was flush with excitement.

“Nervous?” she asked warmly, moving a hand to stroke his face.

“Yeah, a little.”

“Don’t be….this is all for you….lay back and enjoy it….if you need to cum, then do it. I’m protected.”

“But what about you?” he asked, furrowing his brows. Dana felt a tug in her heart that he would be so concerned for her instead of pursuing his own pleasure.

“If I cum again then its a bonus for me...but I want YOU to feel good….I want to make this special for you,” she smiled in a way that made him want to melt.

“I’m with you, it couldn’t be any more special,” he smiled back.

Her grin widened and she couldn’t force it back down. “Shall we then?” she asked and he nodded, letting out a deep breath. Dana balanced her hands on his chest and lifted her hips. The farmer reached down and took hold of his shaft, guiding it towards her opening. Slowly, she sank down about an inch, pulling back up and sinking down again. She carefully worked him inside her inch by inch until she was almost fully seated on his hips. Color flooded her face as she felt a fullness she had never felt before. His length and girth were stretching her out deliciously, and it took a few more strokes before she could fit all of him. She moaned at the feeling of him fully sheathed inside her. He was perfect….not so big as to hurt, but large enough to hit every sensitive spot inside her. They fit together like puzzle pieces. “ _Oh Yoba I’m a lucky lady,_ ” she thought before her mind got hazy.

Sebastian was almost delirious in pleasure. Her walls were warm and tight, and unlike anything he’s ever felt. The friction caused by her movements felt incredible as his hips thrust up lightly with hers. After a few strokes, they found a slow rhythm together. Every now and then, Dana’s walls would give him a little squeeze. The farmer place her hands on his chest, pressing him down into the mattress with each rise and fall.

She looked straight into his eyes as she did, her mouth parted slightly. He gazed at her in response, a look of affection and love she had never seen from anyone before and she blushed. His hands held her thighs and he gently rubbed over them, almost reverently, as if he was worried this perfect moment would end too soon. He committed the sight of her to memory….her breasts pressed together and bouncing, the look and feel of her sinking down and consuming him to the hilt, and the wonderful noises she made as she did.

Dana, true to her word, took it slow allowing them both to savor the experience. Her walls gripped him and dragged him inside of her, and she watched his face closely. He closed his eyes for a moment, biting his lips lightly, and Dana thought it was the sexiest thing she’s ever seen. Just as soon as he closed them, he opened them again, and began moving his hand. His fingers landed on her clit and he began to rub.

“Ohhhhh….a little harder….ohh that’s nice Seb….” the farmer moaned. She leaned forward, hunched over and resting her head by his ear. She kept up her pace, rutting against his hand in the process, her breasts falling heavily against his chest. She took his earlobe in her mouth and sucked on the ring, letting out pleasant little noises. Sebastian couldn’t help himself and bucked his hips up hard. 

“Oh! Oh my….do that again,” Dana moaned directly into his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. He obliged and thrust up hard. The move and her angle made it so he hit just the right spot.

“F-fuck…it feels so good….” she stuttered, starting to lose some of her composure. She placed hot breaths and wet kisses against his neck and began to move faster. Sebastian’s fingers kept circling her and she could feel her second climax building rapidly.

Sebastian’s mind was running a mile a minute “ _Don’t cum don’t cum don’t cum_ ” became his internal mantra, but he was rapidly falling apart. He grabbed a handful of her ass with his free hand and pressed her down hard as he thrust up from the bottom.

The move triggered her second orgasm, and she screamed out. She had to tilt her head away to not damage his eardrums, but Sebastian was too preoccupied to notice. He felt her walls squeezing over him and he couldn’t hold back any longer. With a powerful thrust, his balls clenched and emptied themselves into her waiting cavern. His screams joined hers and they cried out in passion together.

When Dana’s legs stopping shaking, her body slumped on top of his. Panting, she gently placed her forehead against his and he kissed her nose in response. Sebastian wrapped his arms around her torso, refusing to let go.

She regretfully slid him out, and pillowed her head on his chest. Their breathing slowed as they held each other tight.

“Was it everything you thought it would be?” she asked softly, tracing circles on his chest, somewhat nervously.

“More,” he replied with a big goofy smile on his face. “I’m glad it was with you….someone I love...” His hand came up and stroked her hair as she beamed.

“Mmmmm...that makes me really happy,” she said dreamily.

“And you?”

“That felt incredible...honestly I’ve never felt this good before. You might be new at this, but you’ve got some SKILL!” Dana replied earnestly. The farmer took a moment to appreciate the difference between a casual hookup and...this...having an intimate moment with someone she loved. It was exciting in all the right ways.

Sebastian chuckled lightly. “Glad to hear it. We may have a problem though.”

“Yeah?” she asked with sudden concern.

“I think I might be addicted to you. I’m going to want to do this all the time,” he responded, resting his hand on her ass. “And now I don’t feel so bad ogling your perfect body.”

Dana grinned mischievously. “That makes two of us then….” But before she could finish her reply, she let out a loud yawn.

“Will you stay and keep me warm tonight? There’s always morning sex to consider...” she asked in a sing song voice, nuzzling her head against his chest. He blushed. 

“Well, you drive a hard bargain...but yes, yes I will,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“Mmmm….good.” she said sleepily.

He continued stroking her hair and noticed her breathing had gotten deeper. She fell asleep on him, and he couldn’t have been happier. Soon, he fell into a peaceful sleep, wrapped up with his love.

~~~~~~~~

The next morning.

Dana shifted in her sleep and raised herself to stretch, feeling a weight on the sheets. She groggily turned her head and saw Sebastian there, naked and still sleeping. His hair was sticking out everywhere and he was slightly drooling onto the pillow. It was adorable. Dana had to cover her mouth to stop the snicker and then looked at the clock.

“Shit….I forgot to set my alarm,” she scolded herself. However, she looked outside and saw that it was cloudy, and rain was just starting to fall. “ _Good….a lucky break_ ”

The farmer stepped into the bathroom to begin her morning ritual. Once finished, she padded back over to the bed, trying not to disturb her lover. She slid under the covers with her back towards the dark haired man and felt his arms snake around her middle, spooning her. He nuzzled against her neck and mumbled in his sleep. “So pretty, so soft….” he murmured.

Dana felt a surge of affection and wiggled herself closer. She felt something bump into her ass and grinned. “Right, last night wasn’t a dream….” she sighed blissfully to herself, enjoying the warmth of his arms. 

A little more time slipped past and she fell back asleep to the sound of the rain falling and Sebastian’s deep breathing. 

She had no idea what time it was when she felt his weight leave the bed, and re-enter a few minutes later. She rolled to her back and Sebastian flopped on top of her. 

“Good morning,” he said sleepily, nuzzling into her neck. His weight felt wonderful on top of her, and she moved her hands to hug him closer.

“Morning emo nerd,” she joked. 

He chuckled. “You said you weren’t going to call me that…”

“Yes, but now you are MY emo nerd,” she grinned, kissing him on the nose. He rolled his eyes with a smile.

He pushed aside a strand of her hair and began kissing her neck. It was then that she realized that his hardness was settled nicely between her thighs.

“I believe you mentioned something about morning sex?” he asked, sucking on her earlobe. She shivered in anticipation.

“I think I’ve created a monster, a horny horny monster” she said seductively, reaching a hand down to grab his ass and grind him further against her.

He let out a delightful moan. “So….is that a yes?” he asked expectantly, his fingers wandering down to rub her clit. What was it about this woman that made him so bold and confident?

Dana reached out and grabbed his face in her hands and gave him a long, passionate kiss. “Just get inside me, already. Don’t make a lady wait…”

Sebastian growled and moved his fingers further south, stretching her out and making sure she was ready. Once he was satisfied, he used his hand to line up his throbbing cock and pressed the tip against her opening. He grinned devilishly as he slid inside her. “My turn.”

~~~~~

Sam and Abby were huddled under an umbrella, making their way to the farm. 

“Bah, its raining Sam, I’m sure they are okay,” Abby said grumpily.

“Sam they totally missed saloon night with no text, and no one has seen them at all this morning….that’s not like Dana and you know it,” Sam responded as they reached the porch.

He shook off the umbrella and put it aside. He went to go knock, but noticed the door was very slightly ajar.

Sam got worried. “I hope everything is okay…” he said, stepping inside as Abby followed him. They stood in her living room and nothing seemed amiss. Nothing was missing, everything was organized, and there were two pairs of boots hastily removed by the door. Sirius was curled up on the couch and gave them both a very disinterested yawn before going back to sleep.

Sam walked into the kitchen, while Abby happened to notice a few discarded items on the floor, one being Sebastian’s trademark hoodie. Abby smirked….she had an idea what was going on, but Sam was still clueless. Walking silently closer to the closed bedroom door, she heard muffled sounds. Sam looked over to her and mouthed ‘What are you doing?’ but Abby just smiled and put her ear to the door.

Sam saw her face break out into a huge red blush and walked over. Abby joined him in the living room and tried to drag him out the door.

Before the purple haired woman could explain, both trespassers heard louder noises coming from the bedroom followed by some explicit words.

“OH! F-fuck! Fuccckkk!! Sebastian! Yes right there….don’t stop...Yoba yes!”

“I’m not going to stop until you can’t walk straight,” came the response, accentuated by the sound of the bed creaking.

“GOD! You’re so fucking big!”

Sam turned a deep shade of red and Abby did her best to stifle her laughter. Oh she was going to get some mileage out of this for sure. The two stood there in shock as sounds of moaning continued to permeate through the house as well as a few other dirty exclamations from the two lovers.

Coming to his senses, Sam finally took hold of Abby’s arm and walked out the front door, closing it as carefully as he could. In their haste, they forgot the umbrella as they darted back towards town. 

Doubling over on with her hands on her knees, and pretty sure they were far enough away, Abby let out a deep bellowing laugh.

“I _told_ you they were fine,” she said through fits of laughter.

“I can never unhear that. NEVER. I need ear bleach,” Sam said, shaking his head and running a hand through his spikey blond hair.

“Oh lighten up. You wanted them to get together as much as I did,” Abby commented.

“Yeah, I know….but I don’t need to HEAR it thank you very much,” he replied, shortly.

”Oh come on. Like you and Penny don’t make the same noises…” Abby said.

“We are….taking it slow thank you very much!” Sam said, turning even more red if possible

“Mhmm….” Abby snickered. “Oh shit we forgot the umbrella!” she remarked as the rain began to fall harder.

“We’re too far away now….let’s just run back to town, we can pick it up later,” he said, starting a brisk jog towards town.

“Hey wait for me!” Abby shouted, running after him.


	19. Starry Confessions - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana and Sebastian get closer as a couple as fall heads towards a close.

Later in the morning, Dana collapsed onto her side of the bed, panting. “Damn…. You are ravenous. Three times?”

“I warned you….once I’ve had a taste there’s no going back. I’ve got a lot of time to make up for...and you are without a doubt the sexiest person I’ve ever met.” he grinned, wrapping himself around her.

“I didn’t say it was a BAD thing...in fact...I hope you can keep up with ME….” she said with a seductive grin, and wagging her eyebrows. Sebastian laughed.

As they lay there, listening to the rain, Dana broke the silence. “So, are you my boyfriend now? Should I make you a mixtape or something? Stand outside your window with a boombox blasting 90s punk rock?”

The dark haired man snorted. “Hah, no though you have a point. Hang on a second.”

Sebastian climbed out of bed, and Dana was treated to a nice view of his round ass as he walked out of the bedroom. “ _I want to bite it…._ ” she thought as he left her field of vision. She heard him rummaging around in his discarded bag and cursed lightly.

He walked back in with one hand behind his back and sat down on her side of the bed. She sat up with her back against the headboard.

“I um...meant to give you these last night but things got a little...distracting,” he said with an embarrassed smile. “I think in my haste they might have gotten a little squashed,” he continued, revealing a beautifully colored bouquet he had picked up from Pierre’s the day before.

Dana’s eyes sparkled. “Oh they are so beautiful…” she said, taking the bundle in her arms.

“It’s um….tradition in town to present this bouquet to someone you want to devote yourself to...like a girlfriend,” he said nervously.

Dana smiled and a tear rolled down her eye. “Of course! I’ve never felt like this about anyone...and I want to be yours….and I want you to be mine.”

Sebastian leaned forward and kissed her passionately on the lips, a huge grin on his face. “I’m glad we are on the same page now, love.”

The farmer stroked his face and looked at him with love. “Let’s get these into a vase and then go shower….we smell like sex.” She moved to get out of bed, and Sebastian noticed a little wobble in her step as she went into the living room with the flowers.

Sebastian smirked proudly and stepped into the bathroom. “Alright, I’ll go get the water started.”

Dana cat-called him out from the living room as she placed the flowers in a vase and set them on the table.

As she walked into the bathroom she saw her new boyfriend’s silhouette in the shower curtain and grinned mischievously. “ _I’m going to give him such a shower mowhawk_ ” she thought as she pulled the curtain back and joined him.

~~~~~~

20 minutes, and many soap shenanigans later, both were dressed and ready to start the day. Sebastian was finishing gulping down his coffee and gave Dana a kiss on the cheek.

“I don’t want to leave, but I have a project to work on and am in desperate need of clean clothes,” he said with sadness in his voice.

The farmer smiled. “I know….I’ve got to tend to the animals and do a few things around the farm….um…” she began nervously, “You can keep some clothes and stuff here if you want….I imagine you’ll be spending a bit of time here.”

Sebastian smiled warmly. “I’d like that….a lot actually. It’s so much nicer being here than at my mom’s house….they never leave me alone or respect my work. Besides, I like waking up beside you,” he concluded, giving her a hug.

She let out a breath of relief, worried that maybe she was pushing things too fast. “Well good. You can always chill here whenever you want, even if I’m not home or doing work. It’s still bizarre to me to keep doors unlocked, but it will always be open,” Dana said, hugging him back tightly.

“Auggg...you’re making it so hard to leave.”

“Here I thought I was just good at making it hard….” she quipped.

“You are a demon you know that?”

“And I’m allllll yours! Message me later?” she said cheerfully, giving him a pat on the ass as he mounted his motorcycle. He nodded and laughed. She blew him a kiss as he drove off and she could swear she saw a little blush under his helmet.

She looked towards the barn and sighed. “Welp. Back to chorin’.” As she turned to start her chores, she noticed something and wrinkled her face.

“Who’s umbrella is that?”

~~~~

Later…..

**Dana** : Which one of you left an umbrella here yesterday?

**Sam** : Whoops.

**Dana** : Sooo….gonna tell me what it's doing here?

**Abby** : Sam and I went to check on you since you missed saloon night but...heard you otherwise occupied and left. We forgot the umbrella.

**Dana** : Looks like the jig is up then.

**Abby** : _Something_ was up. I have to say, I didn’t think most of the things I heard today were part of your vocabulary.

**Sam** : Ear. Bleach.

**Dana** : Auggg...I hate you guys. I’ll bring by the umbrella later.

**Abby** : If you’re able to leave the bedroom for 10 minutes you mean…

**Dana** : I hate you the most.

**Abby** : <3

~~~~

Dana shook her head, but made good on her promise and returned the umbrella to Sam’s house later that day. Sam was blushing heavily, apologizing for the intrusion, but Dana just waved it off.

“I mean, it serves you right, but besides I’m sure the whole town will know soon enough,” she shrugged.

“Cool….Glad you aren’t mad or anything.”

Dana smiled, “Its fine, just knock next time.”

“Oh believe me, I’m never doing that again.”

~~~~

Meanwhile, Sebastian was doing his best to sneak into his house….at 10AM. Unfortunately for him, Robin heard the creaking of his stairs from the front of the shop.

“Sebbbyyyyy!” Robin called out and he poked his head through the door.

“Good morning -what---you look like you slept in a barn last night, everything okay?” she asked with motherly concern.

“Yeah, mom it's fine...just a late night,” he said, but the carpenter noticed he was grinning and blushing lightly.

“Seb….” she said with a smirk, saddling up to her son.

“You are glowing. Anything you want to talk about? Mother to son?”

“Geez mom,” he said, his blush deepening. “It’s fine...no its better than fine...um...Dana and I are dating now.”

“EEE! I knew it! That’s great news!” the red haired woman said, throwing her arms around her son in a tight hug. “Seems like you are doing MORE than just dating,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

“MOM!” he said, his face in his hands. 

“Alright, alright….I leave you alone. But I’m definitely having Dana over for dinner as your official girlfriend.”

“That’s fine….later,” he said quickly, eagerly leaving the room and heading downstairs.

~~~~~  
Later that night, Dana fired up her computer. There was one more person she needed to talk to today.

**Dana** : So uh, Seb made a move. Don’t say “I told you so.”

**Sasha** : AND?! Don’t leave a girl hanging! What happened? 

**Dana** : He took me to a spot overlooking the city and kissed me...and…

**Sasha** : Annnddd…. 

**Dana** : He said he loved me and I said it back. 

**Sasha** : EEE! Yes! So are you guys dating now officially?

**Dana** : Yep.

**Sasha** : ….there’s gotta me more…. >:)

**Dana** : I maybe blew him against a tree and then we went back to the farm and had a lot of sex.

**Sasha** : HOTTTT! I knew it. Is he as crazy in bed as I think he is?

**Dana** : I don’t kiss and tell. But I will say this….I’m exhausted in the best way. I’m very… _very_ happy right now.

**Sasha** : You go girl!

**Dana** : Lol. I’m gonna get some sleep...I’ll message you tomorrow.

**Sasha** : Night, hoe.

~~~~~

As the days passed, the town had noticed that the new couple were much less tense around each other and there was almost an easiness in the way his hand always seemed to find hers. Neither Sebastian nor Dana were a fan of overt displays of affection, but neither seemed to mind this seemingly simple act. To them, it was intimate, and a sign of their intentions for each other. Sebastian himself was proud to be walking around with the farmer, happy that of all people, she chose him, the dark loner.

In front of their friends, they were even more relaxed. They’d nudge each other, flirt openly, and when over someone’s house, they’d often cuddle up against each other. Overall, they were comfortable and happy, two things that had taken many months to lead up to. Both would be counting the minutes until they could see each other again.

To say that the dam had broken would be an understatement. Neither had ever experienced such a connection - and such pleasure - before and once the doors shut, they couldn’t keep their hands from each other’s bodies. Some days were urgent - they’d take each other fast and hard, relieving the day’s worth of tension with moans and torn clothing. Other times were slower and more sensual as they explored each other’s bodies - seeing what the other liked best. For example, Dana discovered that Sebastian loved having his nipples played with and in turn Sebastian learned that Dana enjoyed having her neck and earlobes sucked on.

There was one common element to all of their interactions - love. Dana was amazed at what it could feel like - to know someone so deeply, and to have them feel the same about you in return. She wanted to hold on to that feeling forever.

One of Dana’s favorite things, she had found out, was cuddling. Sebastian was surprisingly affectionate when they were alone and insisted on cuddling whenever they were on the couch or after sex. It was if he was afraid to let go, like if he did she’d leave and he’d have to go back to his old life. Despite her reassuring kisses and soft words, he always managed to hold her tightly, gently caressing over her soft body. She didn’t mind at all - she loved the attention and the closeness she shared with this man. He even let her wear his hoodie on occasion, and he had to admit, seeing her in his hoodie and nothing else drove him wild.

The harvest festival come and went, and Dana came in second place. She was disappointed that Pierre had beaten her, but it only furthered her resolve to produce even better quality items for next year. Fall continued to be busy, as she prepared for the long upcoming winter. The junimos had helped with their gifts, and seemed particularly pleased at the extra large pumpkin the farmer had delivered to them. She now had a shiny new preserve maker and learned how to turn her spare fruits into jam.

This wasn’t the only new feature of the farm. Dana had purchased two rabbits, and two ducks from Marnie. Her cow and goat were just about ready to start producing milk, and the farmer was thrilled to have a sustainable income not reliant on crops. She looked longingly at the broken down greenhouse - covered in ivy and broken windows. “Maybe someday I’ll fix that up...but not right now.”

Sebastian was in much better spirits and didn’t snap so much when people came barging through his door. He still was grumpy from time to time when he had reached his social limit for the day, but his family found him to be much more pleasant overall. Robin insisted on another game night, and instead of rolling his eyes, the dark haired man actually gave a few game suggestions that the whole family would like. Despite their history, Sebastian was finding that letting go and trying to establish a better relationship now was much more appealing than constantly being angry. It was difficult, and there were times he really longed for a cigarette, but he resisted and tried to take deep breaths instead.

He found himself spending more and more time on the farm. Laptop in tow, he’d usually find his way into the kitchen, make some coffee, and type away in the living room waiting for Dana to finish her chores. It was quiet, and peaceful here, and he really did mean it when he told her he felt more at home here in the valley than he ever had. Dana would come strolling in, tired and dirty and Sebastian still thought she was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen, and told her as much. 

Of course, Dana delighted in the affection and loved having him over. There were times he’d have to stay at home if it was a big project, and she’d miss him terribly. They couldn’t get enough of each other.

As the days got colder, Dana decided to plan a special date for Sebastian. On a rainy day, she got up early and went to the beach. She set up a small tent in the sand and then waited at the end of the dock. She texted Sebastian and he showed up with his trademark umbrella and they watched the storm roll in. They shared a passionate kiss, which got more and more heated until they decided it was best to get all of their clothes off and share their ‘warmth’. Luckily there was a tent nearby.

Other times, it would be Sebastian who initiated their dates. When Spirit’s Eve rolled around, he told his girlfriend that he hid something special at the end of the maze, but she’d have to find it. Taking the challenge, she dragged him through the maze, giggling at the goofy decorations the town had put up. They passed a scared looking Sam and Abby and Dana had to roll her eyes at their reaction to clearly plastic decorations. The farmer found a hidden passage and proceeded to run with Sebastian through the dark cave. Hyped up by the energy of it all, they stopped and shared more than a few passionate kisses against the wall of the cave, ruining Dana’s shirt in the process. Eventually, they made it to the other side of the maze and Dana found her treasure in a box that read “To my healer”. In it was a set of dice earrings to match her necklace and two tickets to an upcoming board game convention in Zuzu City. Dana through her arms around her boyfriend and smothered him with kisses, loving the gifts and immediately wearing her new earrings.

Dana decided that fall was her favorite season. For once, things seemed to be going her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I want to get to other parts of the story, so I’m mostly summarizing the end of fall. Though, the next chapter is a smut chapter, so skip it if you aren’t interested.


	20. Exploring Fantasies - Smut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: SMUT!
> 
> Dana and Sebastian have a frustrating week. Dana comes to a very important decision.

It was the last day of fall and Dana was frustrated. Not angry or upset….but frustrated. It had been at least a week since she and Sebastian had been able to have sex. By all accounts, she shouldn’t be this desperate - after all it had been YEARS since the last time she’d been physically intimate with someone, so why was this so hard? It was like her body craved for his in a way that was completely overwhelming to her. One look from his dark, hooded eyes full of lustful promises set a fire burning within her. He was addicting, plain and simple.

Now if they could just STOP getting interrupted. First, her monthly cycle had shown its nasty face. Then, Sebastian had a massive contract job that required his attention for several days, so she had to bide her time. Finally, when both could enjoy each other’s bodies again, Maru had set the lab on fire again, forcing everyone at the carpenter shop outside. In their haste, Sebastian forgot to put on a shirt and Dana had forgotten her pants and stood outside in Sebastian’s hoodie….fortunately long enough to cover her. She pulled the hood up to cover her burning face when Robin gave her a shit-eating grin.

The following day at her farm wasn’t much better. They had just started making out heavily on the couch when Abby burst in with her sick hamster, hoping Dana could help. Seeing her friend so distraught, she sighed and helped the purple haired girl attend to her hamster. Turns out the little guy was just gassy, but the mood was ruined for the rest of the night.

Sebastian was feeling it too. For the first time in a while, he was sulking around the house in an angry mood. He could barely focus on his programming and sat back in his chair, looking at the clock. 5:45PM. He’d planned to be at the farmhouse by 7, allowing Dana time to get all her work done. He knew she was especially busy during the day, now that her crops were ripe for harvest. He tapped his fingers on the desk nervously.

Internally saying “Fuck it” he grabbed his bag and his keys and headed out the door.

At 6PM, Dana was in a towel drying her hair in the bathroom mirror when she heard the roar of a motorcycle engine. “Oh shit!” she thought, turning off her hairdryer and starting to hastily apply some makeup. She had her evening clothes lined up already - nothing too special since she figured they were going to get torn off anyway - a short, black, ruffled school-girl esque skirt and a form fitting v-neck top in her favorite color of royal blue. Her push up bra only accentuated the shirts tightness and she grinned, hearing the front door open.

She stepped out of the bedroom, batting her eyes at him, not looking the least bit annoyed that he was here early. Sebastian grinned and stood still, taking in the form of her leaned up against the door frame. He traced her curves with his eyes lustfully, focusing intently on her cleavage and toned legs. Yoba, he could take her right now...but no...he had a plan. 

“That skirt is perfect…” he said as he approached her. He held her neck gently with one hand, placing a searing kiss on her lips. Dana eagerly responded but just as her hand was travelling up underneath the back of his hoodie, he stopped and grabbed her hands.

She turned her head to meet his eyes and whined in annoyance. “Why’d you stop?”

Sebastian gave her a devilish smirk that shot a bolt of fire straight to her core. “Because...we’re going somewhere. Call it a….long time fantasy of mine.”

Dana’s look of frustration rapidly turned into one of excitement. “Oohhhh….” she said in understanding. “Are you going to whisk me away to a secret place and ravage me? Good sir, that’s not very gentleman like….” she cooed, running a finger down his chest.

“Whoever said I was a gentleman?” he grinned, placing a quick peck on her lips before heading out the door. Dana slipped on a pair of low cut boots and followed him giddily. Sirius rolled his eyes from the couch.

Sebastian was already astride his bike and handed her his second helmet. She straddled him, her skirt riding up and wondering if that was perhaps the best choice of outfit. The farmer snaked her hands around his waist, giving him a gentle squeeze and they were off. The wind whipped her skirt around, but they were going so fast she doubted anyone would get an eyeful. The minimal clothing meant that she could feel every bump and vibration from the motorcycle and she had to admit...it felt _really_ good. So good, that she looked like a disheveled mess 20 minutes later when they arrived at their secret spot overlooking the city. The sun was starting to set and the twinkle of city lights was beginning to brighten on the horizon.

Dana squeezed his torso again as he took off his helmet, but didn’t dismount. He kicked the stand over so the bike wouldn’t fall. “Sit in front of me,” he instructed. Following his lead, she got off the bike and hopped up in front of him so that it looked like she was driving the bike. He tossed her helmet off the side and trailed a finger down her back as she leaned over.

“You know….I’ve kind of always wanted to have sex on my bike…” he said, moving both hands down her waist and then back up. He leaned forward, pressing his chest against her back and his rapidly swelling erection against her skirt covered bottom. “And you look so delicious right now I don’t think I’d make it off the bike without burying myself inside you first,” he groaned into her ear.

Dana bit her lip, his deep voice sending a pleasant shiver down her body. “You are _filthy_ you know that?” she grinned. “I love it,” she responded, grinding her ass backwards, suddenly very happy she was wearing a skirt. Her panties were already damp, the ride over saw to that and she shifted slightly, the padding on the motorcycle seat hitting her clit just right. She couldn’t help but moan a little.

Sebastian grinned like a cat and placed his hands on either side of her round bottom and thrust forward, his erection now straining through the fabric of his pants. He tilted her hips slightly and pulled aside the g-string she was wearing. “Oh THIS is a nice view…” he commented, palming her soft, round flesh under the skirt. His hand felt warm - a sharp contrast to the cool fall air. He dipped one of his fingers inside her folds and began to pump it slowly in and out.

Dana whimpered. “Don’t tease Seb...it’s been too long and I’m ready for you…”

“Mmm...I can tell…” he growled, removing his hands so that he could undo his belt and zipper. He pulled himself out of his boxers and his length sprang forth. He stroked it a few times before lining up with her hole. He grazed the tip up and down her lips, getting his head coated in her juices before slowly pushing in. Dana moaned at the feeling of being full again and gripped the handlebars of the bike. Her silky walls slide eagerly around his shaft, the friction feeling delightful.

“Seb…” Dana panted, feeling him build up speed. “Don’t go slow….this is so hot I might burst at any moment...don’t hold back.”

Sebastian fell forward so that his chest was against her back and his arms laid on top of hers, also gripping the handle. Wordlessly, he thrust hard and deep into her wet core. His fingers entwined with hers as he bucked behind her rapidly. The angle was putting nice pressure on her clit and she was beginning to see stars. Her legs began to shake and through her haze of cloudy thought, she was able to have a moment of clarity to think that this was perhaps the hottest thing she’d ever experienced - out here in the wild all alone, having her lover take her like an animal in heat.

“God Seb...you’re so deep...I’m not gonna last much longer….fuckk….” she cried, her cheeks flushed in pleasure.

He adjusted his angle slightly, and that was all it took. He rutted into her furiously, never relenting as she cried out his name to the heavens. Her thighs quaked as her walls began squeezing around his shaft in a powerful orgasm. Her moaning was filled with both pleasure and relief, as the weeklong build up finally released itself.

Sebastian’s thrusting became rapidly inconsistent. His breathing became irregular and he began cursing. He gripped her fingers against the handlebars and thrust into her a few hard times, bursting inside her. Relief washed over him as he panted. He laid there on her for a few moments to collect his thoughts before sitting back up and tracing a finger down her spine, still inside her.

Then suddenly, he pulled her body up and gave her a big hug from behind, nuzzling into her neck.

Dana yet out a pleased sigh. “Mmm...needed that,” she said, wrapping her arms around his as he held her. “You’re such a softie.”

“Only temporarily…” he smirked, withdrawing from her.

“That was really hot…” Dana admitted.

“Yeah it was….another one off the bucket list,” he said, kissing her neck and leaving a trail of soft kisses down to her shoulder. 

“Made a bit of a mess though,” Dana grinned.

“Meh. Worth it. I’ll clean it up later. Right now I’m enjoying just holding you,” he whispered as they both watched the sun set. They sat there in silence, enjoying each other’s warmth and thought perhaps this was one of those rare perfect moments. Eventually, Dana dismounted, her legs a little stiff and stretched. Sebastian joined her off the bike and gave her a big hug, making sure her arms were covered by his so that she wouldn’t get cold. 

“Hey….” Dana said, giving him seductive eyes. “Do you want to rail me against a tree in the woods?”

“Oh Yoba, do I…” he responded, going in for a kiss, but Dana backed off. She stepped aside and gave him a devilish grin. “Then we are going to do one of _my_ fantasies….you’ll have to catch me first!”

And with that, Dana took off into the woods, giggling the whole time. Sebastian blinked but then his grin turned dark as he darted off into the forest after her.

When they returned back to the farmhouse later that night, they were filthy. Covered in mud and all sorts of fluids, they were so exhausted they stripped quickly and passed right out on Dana’s bed. They fell into an easy, peaceful sleep - with one minor exception. Dana was woken up in the middle of the night, various sticks falling from her hair and jabbing her neck. She stifled a laugh and threw the sticks in the trash, falling back to sleep with a smile on her face.

~~~~~

The next morning, it was the birds chirping that woke her up. The warm sunlight washed over her as she sat up and stretched with a big yawn. Yoba, she felt good today. She looked over and saw Sebastian sleeping peacefully. The farmer realized that she had always slept better with him by her side. She carefully moved a piece of hair from his face and smiled warmly. His face was calm, showing none of the worry or anxiety he typically showed. She loved seeing him like this - happy and content. Her mind formed a thought she just couldn’t shake. The more she thought, the more it seemed like the obvious choice.

Sebastian’s eyes opened slowly and he smiled, seeing her look down on him and touching his hair. “Morning.”

“Good morning, sunshine,” Dana said, beaming at him. “Sleep well?”

“I always sleep well when I’m with you,” he said, rolling onto his back.

“Funny I was just thinking the same thing,” she said, curling up against him and resting her head on his chest. He wrapped and arm around her back and idly traced along her skin.

“Seb?” Dana asked softly.

“Mmm?”

“Do you um….want to move in here with me? I’d understand if you need your space or if you think it's too soo-”

“Yes,” he interrupted immediately.

“Or if you just don’t like the far- wait did you say yes?” she looked up expectantly.

“Of course….I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it. I’m so much more productive here than in that dark basement….and I don’t get bothered here….plus I love you. I just...I dunno I didn’t want to come out and ask because this is your house and that would be presumptuous of me,” he explained sheepishly.

Dana smiled and cupped his face, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. “I love you too. You’re welcome here...this is your home too.”

Sebastian did all he could to hold back a tear that threatened to fall and kissed her back. 

“We can go get your stuff whenever you want,” Dana offered. “After I get those crops harvested though.”

Sebastian nuzzled her nose with his. “I’ll take care of it. I can borrow mom’s truck. I don’t have much to bring except my computer, desk, and my collections.”

“Oooo this means I can borrow your shit more easily. Nice. I like this arrangement already. Why don’t you set yourself up in the guest bedroom? That way you’ll have your own space. There are even GASP! WINDOWS!”

Sebastian laughed, but was really touched. “That’s awfully nice of you to give me a room just for me.”

“Eh, its for me too. I have two spare rooms collecting dust right now. We can consider it a nerd cave.”

“Hah...nerd cave it is then. Wow...I’m kinda overwhelmed right now….but in a good way. Like, I’m really excited.”

“Me too...I was thinking that waking up next to you makes me really happy...why not do that everyday? Besides, we can have sex more frequently too!”

He gave a deep belly laugh at this. “You are insatiable.”

She shrugged. “It's one of my better qualities.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that day, Dana was on her hands and knees in the dirt, pulling up weeds and harvesting her crops. She was in good spirits today and sang a little tune as she did.

She heard Robin’s truck pull up and waved to the red-headed woman, who wasted no time jumping out and giving the smaller woman a huge hug.

“Robin! Ick I’m all dirty and sweaty!” Dana tried to protest, but her smile gave her away.

“Please hun, I’m a carpenter. I’ve been there...WAY too often. I’m just really happy….and really sad too. I’m going to really miss having Sebby around, but he’s so happy with you and that’s really all I want,” Robin said through a few tears. She pulled back out of the hug and held Dana by her shoulders.

“I know you’ll take good care of him...but make sure you both visit often okay? Game night will be too boring without you two.”

Dana chuckled, “I promise, Robin. I’ll make sure he eats and sleeps too, and water him three times a day.”

“Excuse you, I can take care of myself, thank you very much. I eat occasionally…” Sebastian said, grinning and holding onto a backpack.

Dana rolled her eyes and dusted off her pants. Robin smiled at the exchange.

“Let’s get your stuff out so Robin can get back to her day,” Dana said and helped lift some of the boxes out of the truck. Within the hour, Sebastian’s things were stored safely in the guest room, now the nerd cave, along with his desk and computer setup. Dana pushed the bed into futon mode, giving a little more room. 

With a tear in her eye, Robin parted the couple. They waved to her as she left with promises to visit. When the returned to the room, Dana began opening the boxes and looked at the bookshelf, trying to figure out a good way to arrange it. Sebastian crept up behind her in a hug.

“This isn’t proper roommate behavior you know,” she smirked.

“No?” he said, picking her up and tossing her unceremoniously on the futon. “If this is my room now, that means I get to say what’s proper,” he responded laying down on top of her and pinning her to the futon. He gave her a cheeky smile. 

“You know I think we should celebrate, it's a _big_ day after all…” Sebastian said, pressing his hips against hers.

“Well….you have a point and we have yet to christen this room,” she eyed him devilishly.

In response, he kissed her fiercely and she could feel the happiness radiating from him. He casually lifted off his hoodie and Dana snuck her hands up the back of his t-shirt, caressing his back muscles. She sunk into the kiss and relaxed into the futon - their futon, in _their_ home. It felt right.

“Welcome home, Sebastian…” was the last thing she said before a haze of lust clouded her mind.


	21. The Winter of Our Content - Smut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter vignettes - Dana gets a present from the Junimos. Plus, its Sebastian's birthday!
> 
> Smut midway through >:)

Winter

Dana was somewhat shocked at how quickly the weather had turned. One day, there was a slightly cool breeze blowing the fallen leaves all around, and the next, snow was gently falling. Knowing full well that she didn’t have to tend to her crops made her a little lazier than usual, and she curled up in the warmth of Sebastian’s arms. It had only been a week, but the farmer was very happy with the new arrangement, and Sebastian seemed equally as pleased. Dana had never seen him with so much energy. Usually he had bags under his eyes and sulked around, focusing mostly on his computer. However, the last few days, he had gotten up early to feed the animals for her. Domesticity was doing wonders for the both of them.

Despite not being a fan of the cold, the farmer was enjoying all of the free time that winter afforded her. The animals still needed tending to, but with her new automatic feeders and heaters, the animals were sitting comfortably. This gave her plenty of time to explore, comb the mines for treasures, and increase her fishing skill. With all these things combined, she was pulling a steady profit without over exerting herself too much.

She’d even had time to bring more gifts to the Junimos. Her preserves had been a hit, and today she was dropping off some high quality goat cheese. The little forest spirits were thrilled, and gifted her with a new keg - to match her new bee house, cheese press, and preserves jar. 

She gave the little spirits a pat on the head each and they chirped happily, disappearing into the ether once more. Since it was still morning, Dana decided to head to the mines.

Now that she had found gold and iron, sprinklers were a sinch. She’d set up her field to evenly distribute them and was excited for spring to roll around so she could try them out. But first, the mines.

Today was a particularly lucky day. One her way down, she found two frozen tears and pocketed them hastily for Sebastian. She even found another amethyst for Abby. Her combat skills were increasing, though she had gotten hit by a shadow shaman, and nearly doubled over from dizziness. Fortunately, it passed and she was able to collect some valuable essences.

Later that night, Sebastian was elated to be given the frozen tears, and set them on a shelf in his room. Then he promptly showed his ‘appreciation’ to her on the futon while a pizza cooked in the oven. Yeah, she could get use to this lifestyle.

That night, something wondrous happened. It was still dark out when Dana stumbled into the bathroom. When she finished her business, she could have sworn she heard the familiar chirping of the Junimos. However, she shook it off as a sleep induced phenomenon and went to rejoin her boyfriend in bed. He was sleeping soundly, his long hair draped over his face with his mouth slightly parted. She have him a soft, affectionate kiss and wrapped her arms around his back so that he was the little spoon. She nuzzled him and fell right back to sleep.

Sebastian was still asleep when Dana woke up again, this time later in the morning. She sleepily walked into the kitchen, petting and feeding Sirius before putting on a pot of coffee. She turned to look out the window and was glad she wasn’t holding a mug or else she would have dropped it. The farmer rubbed her eyes, not believing what she was seeing.

There to the west of her farm, stood her greenhouse - only the windows and beams were no longer broken. There was new glass and snow was softly laying on the top of the renovated structure. She hastily put on her boots and coat and flew out the door.

Her footsteps crunched in the snow and Sirius curiously padded after her.

“What the…” she said, in total awe as she approached the structure.

The door was shut, put when she turned the knob it opened easily. She stepped inside and realized it was warm and bright, despite the weather outside. She closed the door behind her and kneeled down to examine the soil. It looked rich, and definitely not frozen like the rest of her farm looked. The dark haired woman reached her hand into the soil….yes, this would be great for planting. She stood up and dusted off her pants, looking up and around the whole structure. She couldn’t help but grin wildly.

“It must have been the Junimos...I can’t explain it otherwise...thank you forest spirits,” she said out loud. It was then that she noticed a small, decorative package in the corner of the greenhouse. There was no note, but in the package were a few boxes of quality fertilizer, and enough seeds to fill the plot, once it was tilled. She eyed the selection - blueberries, tomatoes, cranberries and corn - all crops that would continue to produce after the first harvest, and of all different seasons.

She couldn’t stop a tear rolling from her eye. Her heart swelled with appreciation, but soon she became anxious.

“I have A LOT of work to do today if I want to get this soil ready! I’ll need more sprinklers for sure, I have to till the soil, use the fertilizer…” she rattled off and Sirius gave her a bored yawn. “Come on boy, let's get ready for a big day!”

She raced back to the house, to get changed and grab her tools. Her PJs flew off and her overalls went on just as Sebastian was stirring. He sat up, hair sticking out in different directions and gave her a curious look.

“You’re full of energy today,” he said, yawning.

“No time to explain! So much work to do! So excited. Love you, be back later!” she hastily said, exiting the room, but flew back in, gave him a big cartoony kiss on the lips then raced off again, leaving Sebastian blinking in confusion.

Back outside, she dug out all of the spare ore she’d found and set work crafting new sprinklers. It was hard work, but she managed to get enough to plan out a good setup for the greenhouse. She looked at her schematics one finally time and began carting them off to the greenhouse.

By now, Sebastian was fully awake and drinking coffee by the window. He saw the farmer lugging the sprinklers towards what he was shocked to see as a new greenhouse. Donning his hoodie and boots he stepped outside to help her.

“The fuck is THAT?” he said, with a similar expression of awe on his face and he reached down to grab a couple sprinklers, eyes never leaving the structure.

Dana hopped back over. “New greenhouse from the Junimos!”

“....wow….that's pretty awesome.”

“Yeah! Don’t just stand there, help me get these set up. I’ll make pumpkin soup for dinner…” she asked sweetly.

Sebastian grinned. “You don’t have to bribe me, but yeah that sounds awesome. Where do you want these?”

“Ah, yeah come here and I’ll show you…”

Together they managed to get all the sprinklers setup. Dana gave him a long kiss and sent him back to the house to finish his coding project, assuring him she had it under control. It took until later that afternoon, but Dana had managed to get the soil tilled, fertilizer placed, and the seeds planted. She smelled terrible, but she was still riding her adrenaline high from earlier. She threw open the door to her farmhouse and stepped inside with confidence, the dirt caked on her boots, forming a brown cloud around her. “I have done it! Go me!”

Sebastian looked over and blushed. “You know, you still look great even when you are tromping around in the mud all day.”

“You’re damn right I do!” she said happily, removing her boots and coat. She walked over and gave him a big kiss. He tasted like coffee and she savored that for a moment before breaking the kiss. “Now...I need to shower. After that, soup and a movie?”

Sebastian looked a little dazed from the kiss and had a goofy smile on his face. “Sounds perfect.”

~~~~~~~~~~

A few more days came and went and Dana was still enjoying the excitement from her new greenhouse. She knew it was going to take weeks for the crops to start sprouting, but it didn’t put a damper on her mood. Her mood was infectious, and Sebastian found himself smiling more often.

Even though it had only been about two weeks Sebastian felt more at home here in the farmhouse than he did in his old basement. His new office was warm, bright and inviting, which contrasted sharply to his previous living arrangement, but he found it much more agreeable. Dana was so busy with farm work, that he had the house to himself during the day, which afforded him a lot of time to work on his projects uninterrupted. With their combined income, he could even afford to start working on projects of his own, and had an idea for a new game he wanted to start coding. At times when he was feeling lonely, all he had to do was go outside and surprise Dana with a hug, and the farmer always dropped what she was doing to chat with him. Other times, he’d go for a long walk and visit some of his favorite places - usually the dock or the mountain lake. He liked visiting his mom on Mondays as they were typically slow days for her and he enjoyed seeing her face light up when he walked through the door. Now that he was out of the house, he could appreciate his family more.

At the end of the day, Sebastian and Dana would eat dinner together in front of the TV and curl up and enjoy each other’s company. Sometimes they’d watch movies, or play games separately on their computers. Regardless of what they were doing, both were finding a happy rhythm in their home together.

Dana had gotten so caught up in the frenzy of getting the greenhouse together that she almost missed Sebastian’s birthday. She looked at the calendar and saw that it was only a week away. The farmer knew that Sebastian didn’t like to make a big deal about his birthday….in fact he hadn’t even told her. It was Robin who mentioned it.

Being an introvert herself, she knew a big party was out of the question and that her boyfriend would prefer something more low key. Still, she wanted to do something special for him and while she worked, she wracked her brain thinking of something. She suddenly had an idea, and her smile widened. It was perfect. Now she only had to find time to put it all together.

~~~~

It was Monday, so Sebastian was out visiting his mom, and it was as good a time as any to begin work on her new ‘project’. She set to work, keeping a careful eye on the time, and put everything away with 5 minutes to spare. The farmer wasn’t quite finished, so she’d have to be extra sneaky over the next few days to prepare for Sebastian’s birthday on Friday.

For the most part, Dana was successful. She’d bide her time, waiting for Sebastian to leave the house, thought she almost got caught when the dark haired man gave her a suspicious look as he was leaving one day. She played it off casually, and let out a sigh of relief when he was gone. She was able to finish just in time for Sebastian’s birthday.

~~~~~

Friday morning came a little too quickly. Dana was up and out of bed early, racing over to the kitchen. She started making her signature pumpkin pancakes while the coffee brewed. She wanted today to be special, and there was nothing Sebastian liked more than fresh hot coffee….well, okay maybe there were a couple other things, but that could wait until later.

The smell of the pancakes and coffee eventually caused the dark haired man to stir and he sat up against his pillow, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Sirius hopped up on the bed and licked his face.

“Down boy…” Sebastian smiled, giving him a few head pats. Dana appeared in the doorway.  
“Happy birthday!” she shouted, running over and tackling him into a hug. Sebastian did his best to frown at the fact that she knew, but couldn’t really seem to pull it off due to her enthusiasm. She squeezed his sides and kissed all over his face.

“Gross,” he chuckled. “That’s the second time today…..and thanks. Did mom tell you?”

“Of course she did! Now, I’ve got pumpkin pancakes and hot coffee waiting for you,” the farmer said, humming as she hopped off the bed and into the other room. His stomach growled as she did. “Mmm….that does sound good…”

He stumbled over to the kitchen, not even bothering to put on pants and sat down at the table in his boxers. Dana gave him a full plate of pancakes, a big mug of coffee and some syrup and told him to dig in.

“This is really nice,” he said, between mouthfuls of pancake. “You didn’t have to go through the trouble…” It was then that he made a realization. “I don’t even know when your birthday is...wow I feel like the worst boyfriend.”

“Of course you deserve pancakes on your birthday, pfft. And honestly, with everything that’s been happening, I totally forgot about my birthday. It’s in the middle of fall.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Sebastian asked.

“YOU didn’t tell ME about yours so hush mister,” she said, holding a spoon out towards his chest.

“...Fair enough. Though I’m going to have to double down on your next birthday,” he offered, shoving more pancake into his mouth.

“Deal. I get not wanting a big thing. It was never really a big deal at my house,” she said casually, turning back to the stove. “But I wanted to do something nice for you.”

Sebastian looked a sad at her statement and his mouth formed a frown. Given what he knew of her family, they probably didn’t pay much attention to her on her birthday. Sebastian hated celebrating his birthday for the opposite reason - Robin always went nuts with her affection and it made him a little embarrassed. It took years to convince her not to throw outrageous parties every year and she instead settled on a nice family dinner with all his favorite foods. He looked at his girlfriend carefully, her hips swaying as she hummed and made the decision that he wouldn’t fail her next time her birthday came around.

She finished making her own plate and joined him at the table. “So any plans today?” she asked.

“Not really, mom wanted to do a family dinner, but I pushed that back since its Saloon night.”

“It’ll be good to see the gang tonight,” Dana agreed. “The pizza is on me!”

“I’d rather the pizza be on you too,” Sebastian smirked.

Dana rolled her eyes. “Just because I dropped cheese down my cleavage the one time…”

“Twice now.”

“Fine, twice. Men,” she playfully huffed. The continued eating their food, playfully bantering with each other before Dana stood up to clear the plates. She suddenly became very nervous. She put the dishes in the sink and turned back to Sebastian, placing her hands on the counter behind her.

“I have some presents for you…” she began.

“Aww, for me? I’ve already got the best present,” he said, standing up and hugging her. 

“You are the sappiest.”

“And you love it.”

“Whatever,” she said, gently breaking the hug and smiling. “Nerd. Let me give you your loot.”

She walked upstairs to the unused bedroom and rummaged around in the closet. There she found her wrapped gifts and took a deep breath. There was a medium sized bag filled with things, and one flat, rectangular gift. The farmer gathered the present and walked back downstairs. Sebastian was sitting on the couch with Sirius cuddled beside him. Dana walked over and dropped the bag in his lap.

“Well, go on!” she prompted. He smiled and took out the first item. It was a pre-ordered first volume of a new comic series done by the same writer as Cave Saga X. “Whoa! How did you get this? I thought the pre-orders were sold out?”

“I backed the original project on FundMe a long time ago, so I got first dibs. I guess that’s more of a joint present though.”

“That’s so cool….” he said flipping through the book. “Hey it’s even got original art sketches in here too!” He smiled and put the book down. 

“There’s more.”

Sebastian reached into the bag and pulled out a very dark, very smooth stone and his eyes sparkled.

“Is this, Obsidian?! It’s so rare, did you find it in the mines?” he said in awe, holding the stone carefully by his face.

“I found it in a geode actually. A very lucky day for me.”

“This is too much, Dana….really you didn’t have to do all this for me…” he started.

She put a finger to his mouth. “You deserve everything and more. Besides, you aren’t done yet.”

Sebastian blushed but pulled out the last gift in the bag. It was a smaller box, and he carefully opened it. Inside, were two small figurines - one was a small cleric wearing Dana’s signature World of Lorecraft gear, and the other was of Sebastian’s wizard. They looked identical to the avatars they played in the game and were painted as such.

“Whoa! This is the coolest! How…?” he asked, admiring the detail. She’d even gotten the colors on his dragon helmet correct.

“There’s a website that lets you customize figurines...so I got them and painted them this week.”

“Wait you painted these?!” he said in awe.

Dana nodded shyly. Sebastian gingerly set the gifts down on the coffee table and tackled her in a big hug. “I love you so much...that's so thoughtful,” he said into the side of her face, planting a soft kiss on it.

Dana giggled, “You’re welcome! But there is one more…”

Sebastian propped himself up on his elbows and looked confused. “There wasn’t anything else in the bag...wait unless…” his eyebrow quirked up and he gave her a mischievous smile.

Dana laughed. “No, you goober….well...I mean yes, whenever you want, but I meant another present to unwrap!”

Dana sat up and reached around the side of the couch to present the flat, rectangular gift. She nervously handed it over, and Sebastian caught her anxiousness, wondering what could possibly have her so worried.

He carefully unwrapped the present and his breath caught in his chest. He dragged a finger over the glass, trying to remember how to breathe again. Inside the frame was a picture - of all four of the Solarian Chronicles characters - himself, Abby, Sam and Dana, all dressed in their gear in an epic battle scene from one of their scenarios. Each of the characters looked like a stylized cartoon version of their players and Sebastian’s heart swelled.

“I don’t...I don’t know what to say…” he choked out.

Dana turned her head in slight embarrassment. “I um. I hope you like it….I worked really hard on it.”

Sebastian put the print down regretfully and grabbed her face, turning it to face his. “It's the best thing I’ve ever gotten in my life….no really...I can’t begin to say how much this means to me...so I’ll show you…”

(Smut time!)

He pressed his lips against hers, not forcefully, but with passion. She grinned, relieved that he enjoyed the gift and responded eagerly. He gently held the back of her head as the kiss continued and deepened. He laid her down so that he was on top of her and she in turn wrapped her arms around his neck. The dark haired man was smiling the whole time, gracefully trailing his hand down the length of her body. He started with her face, and moved down to her shoulder. He brushed past her breast, straining at her too small tank top, and continued to the curve of her waist. His tongue found its way into her mouth and he couldn’t help but press himself against her warm body upon hearing her moan.

Despite only being in his boxers, Sebastian found the article of clothing way too restrictive and slide them down and off his body. Her pajama pants and tank top followed and they laid there naked, mouths pressed against each other and bodies starting to heat up. The dark haired man delighted in the little cooes and moans from his lover and it only spurred him onward. He broke the kiss and trailed his lips down her neck, finding a particularly soft spot to suckle on. His hand found her bare breast and he kneaded it gently in his hand, grazing past her nipple as he did.

Dana’s hands traveled up and down his back, gently massaging over the muscles. Her body writhed under him, feeling a familiar heat and wetness spread. She could feel him, hard and ready, resting against her, but instead of pounding her right there, he was taking him time, savoring her body. She internally squealed as he began trailing kisses from her neck to her breast, latching onto her nipple and swirling his tongue around the little barbell. He tugged at it, firmly, but not too hard and her sensitive nipple swelled in his mouth. The farmer bit her lip, trying to stifle an obscene moan, but was doing a terrible job. He grinned around her nipple at her noises and it only made him suck harder. A hand travelled down to where their lower bodies were pressed against each other and he dipped a finger between her folds, prying them open. He pressed a long finger inside, almost agonizingly slowly.

“Seb…” Dana breathed out, a light sheen of sweat forming around her face. 

“Mmm…” he moaned around her breast. 

“Take me...please...I need you,” she rasped out.

He released her nipple with a pop! “Well well….aren’t we impatient?” he smirked. He crawled up on her body, kissing her briefly on the lips before lining his hips up with hers. She could feel his tip, swollen and hard against her wet entrance and she growled at him. “You’re such a tease.”

“Well if I was a tease, would I do this?” he responded, pressing just the head of his cock inside her and not moving. “That’d be mean wouldn’t it…”

Dana bit her lip again, feeling the inch or so of penetration, but her body was burning for more. “So….mean….” she groaned and got a devilish glint in her eye. Before Sebastian could question it, he found her legs wrapped around his body pressing him deeply inside. He cried out at the sudden feeling, letting out a deep loud moan. Dana sighed in relief. “Much better.”

“F-fuck….you little demon…” he grinned, feeling himself fully sheathed in her wet heat. He thrusted forward hard. “That’s what you want, huh?”

The look she gave him was nothing short of searing and she squeezed her legs tighter as he thrust forward. Her legs eased up as he pulled back, giving him room to rear back and drive into her deeper. He took long, driving thrusts into her, filling her each time and she gripped onto his back, leaving scratch marks. Sebastian grunted and feverishly captured her lips with his. The kiss was messy and desperate, and they both had to stop frequently to catch their breath.

Dana suddenly pushed his chest away from her, forcing him out. He looked extremely confused, but Dana still had the fire in her eyes. Quickly, she got up and tackled him, pressing his back against the couch and straddling his lap. His head fell against the back cushion and she put a hand on either side of his head, gripping the couch for leverage. She sat down on his lap, consuming him to the hilt and his hips involuntary bucked up of their own accord.

“Whoa…” was all he could say as his hands found her hips, guiding her up and down. Her breasts bounced there heavily for his viewing pleasure.

“You’re MINE now…” she growled, attaching herself to his neck. She sucked right on the spot he liked just below his ear. The farmer knew it would leave a hickey, but she didn't care. Right now all she cared about was making her lover feel good. She set a moderate pace, making sure to squeeze her inner walls as she pressed herself onto his shaft. Sebastian’s eyes nearly popped out at the sensation and gripped her hips tightly to let her know he wasn’t going to last much longer. Grinning, she reached down and moved on of his hands to rub her clit and slowed her pace. He swirled around the nub, taking the hint, as she fully sat on him, swirling her hips around and changing the movement.

“Oooh….this feels nice,” he groaned. His cock was bumping into all of the right spots and Dana started to lose her composure. She inhaled sharply against his neck as a particular move brought his tip right against her g-spot. The farmer did it again and again, rapidly feeling the pressure build inside her, ready to release itself.

Suddenly, Sebastian thrust his hips up forward in a surprise move that set her off. Her body shook around his as she began pounding down on him like there was no tomorrow. She gripped the couch hard, her breasts bouncing right in front of his face and he latched onto one, sucking needily. He groaned against her as she rode out her orgasm and his own legs began to shake. His brows furrowed and he let out a load moan, releasing her nipple and exploding inside her.

Dana breathed heavily as she stopped moving, her body slumping down slightly. Her head rested against his and she kissed his ear. His arms wrapped her up in a tight hug as they both caught their breath.

“Best. Birthday. Ever,” he panted against her. The farmer chuckled and slowly slid off him, flopping on the couch. 

~~~

The rest of the afternoon was a little less eventful. Dana tended to the animals and Sebastian took a much needed rest day and started reading his new novel. When Dana had returned from her work, she had insisted on Sebastian joining her in the shower. He did, and was rewarded with a blowjob that left him seeing stars. As he slumped down against the shower wall, water hitting his body, he couldn’t help but think that Dana was really doing a lot to make his day special, and that he really had to bring it when hers came around.

They got ready for saloon night and walked hand in hand right through the saloon doors. They waved over to their friends and had seen that Penny was joining them tonight. Sebastian greeted his friends warmly, still carrying a goofy smile.

“Happy Birthday, man. Wow you look like you just got the world’s best blowjob!” Sam said, joking.

Penny blushed furiously as Abby laughed. Sebastian grinned. “I did,” he simply said and walked over to grab his usual pool cue. 

Dana snorted and picked up a slice of pizza, “My skills are epic,” she said, complimenting herself.

“TMI!” Sam laughed.

“Maybe if I distract Seb long enough you could actually win a game, Sam,” Dana quipped.

“Oh sick burn. I’ll get him one of these days…”

The match continued with the usual predictable results. Sebastian decimated Sam, but when it was Dana’s turned the game went from competitive to flirty very quickly. Sebastian was in such a good mood, he didn’t realize that it was becoming infectious, and the three friends in the room were amazed by his change in outlook after living on the farm for only a few weeks. 

Abby smiled a sad smile, happy that her friends were together, but it put into sharp contrast her own loneliness. Sam made a few gagging noises at their cuteness, but was truly very happy for them. Even Penny seemed to be catching the vibe and was a little less shy around Sam. She touched his hands, fed him pepper poppers, and honestly laughed at his jokes.

At one point, Dana was giggling and Sam looked over to see Sebastian adjusting her hips slightly before she took her turn. He rolled his eyes.

Over at the table, the dark haired man whispered into his girlfriend’s ear, “You’re lucky that everyone is here or else I’d bend you over this table right now.”

Dana laughed. “I don’t think that makes me lucky…” she said, though a naughty idea popped into her head that she filed away for later. She took her shot and sunk the ball.

“Yes!” she shouted happily. They continued to play, going back and forth, and once again, Sebastian had won. Dana leaned over to him, her eyes darting over to their friends. Sam and Penny were engaged in conversation, and Abby was on her phone, trying to suppress a goofy smile. She whispered to him, “I’ll be in the bathroom if you _need_ me…” and hurried off. Sebastian blushed for the first time that night, but picked up her meaning. He gave it about a minute before he followed her. Fortunately, the saloon’s bathrooms were single person only, with locks.

They thought they got away unscathed, but it was actually Penny who noticed them leave. Despite being very bookish and quiet, she was able to piece together what was going on by the way they were both smiling. The red head blushed furiously. Sam, thinking he said something wrong, looked concerned.

“Everything alright, sweetie?” he asked.

Penny shifted in her seat. She couldn’t stop her mind from wandering and thinking about what was going on right now. She was still a virgin, and much too shy to approach the topic of sex with Sam, but she felt herself getting hot. It’s not that she didn’t want to do it with Sam….she’d thought about it of course, and he was so patient with her. But she could not find it in herself to have that first conversation - how embarrassing!

“I’m f-fine. It’s just a little warm in here is all,” she hastily replied and Sam’s eyebrow cocked up. She got caught in the blueness of his eyes and her mind jumped from Sebastian and Dana to herself and Sam in a similar position. She felt as though she might faint.

“Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air?” Sam offered, seeing her discomfort.

“Yeah...just for a moment. I want to….talk about something too…” she said, steeling her nerves.

The two walked outside, leaving Abby alone with her phone. She was having some fun of her own, as she and Sasha were sending dirty texts to each other. About 10 minutes later, the farmer and her boyfriend stumbled back into the room laughing, but noticed Sam and Penny were gone.

They sat down next to Abby. “Where’d they go?” Dana asked.

Abby looked up from her phone and grinned, “Well while you to were getting it on in the bathroom, Penny looked like she was turning into a tomato. Her and Sam are outsi---”

The purple haired girl didn’t have time to finish as Sam raced back into the room, holding Penny’s hand and grabbing their coats.

“No time to talk gotta go. Happy Bday man, later!” Sam rambled and flew back out the door with a very embarrassed Penny.

“What that fuck?” Sebastian asked.

“Beats me,” Dana shrugged. She turned to Abby. “How are you doing, Abby? Any fun plans this weekend?”

Abby smiled shyly and fumbled her phone. “Actually, I was going to drive to Zuzu City and hang out with Sasha…”

“Ooo! That’s awesome!” Dana said, smiling.

“Really? I wasn’t sure if you’d be happy about your friends dating each other or something.” Abby admitted sheepishly.

“Pfft oh come on. I know the both of you and am very happy! I THOUGHT she seemed more chipper than usual, so I have you to thank for that. Give her a noogie for me though, she hates those,” Dana said with a wink. She saddled up closer.

“How long have you two been officially seeing each other?” Dana asked.

“I guess not long, or else I’m sure Sasha would have told you. I’m not even sure we’re anything official, since she doesn’t really like labels.”

“Sounds like her,” Dana admitted. “But for what it's worth, I know she likes you.” 

Abby blushed. “I’m….I’ve never felt so smitten before. It’s hard being here and being me and I enjoy being with her in the city...it feels right.”

Dana gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hand. “I hope it works out for you Abs and you find what makes you most happy.”

“Don’t make me cry you loser,” Abby said, sniffling a little and playfully shoving her friend.

“She has a way of doing that,” Sebastian said, butting in and putting his arm around Dana.

“Aug. You two are gross.” Abby laughed.

“Hey, you shipped it, remember?” Dana said with a smile.

“And I still do!”

~~~~~~~~~~

And so ended Sebastian’s birthday. As he lay curled up with Dana later that night, listening to her deep breathing, he smiled into her hair. “ _I love winter._ ” he thought before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't intend this chapter to be smutty....but here we are.
> 
> Note: For clarification, I don’t use the one season = on month timeline. All my seasons are multiple months so I can fit in more stuff.


	22. The Feast of the Winter Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana and Sebastian decide what to get their respective Winter Star people.

**Sebastian** Where’d you go last night?

**Sam** Bro…..bro….I had an amazing night. I don’t know what got into Penny but we started talking about, you know….things.

**Sebastian** Things?

**Sam** Yeah man, like sex stuff.

**Sebastian** Ohh..okay. Well good for her for stepping out of her comfort zone.

**Sam** Yeah well, apparently, she wanted to try some stuff….and we fooled around a little bit. Nothing like what you and Dana do 24/7, but….baby steps.

**Sebastian** Hey….what we do is private.

**Sam** And sometimes in public…..

**Sebastian** Touche….um, well cool. Good for you man. Think she’s the one for you?

**Sam** Sighhh…...I do. But I’m totally okay with taking things slow. Oh hey, change of topic but did you get your feast of the winter star person?

**Sebastian** Yeah. Unfortunately, I got Maru.

**Sam** What do you mean? This is a good chance to connect with her. Isn’t that what you wanted to do?

**Sebastian** Well YEAH, she’s my sister. But I don’t know what to get her. 

**Sam** Ask Dana, I’m sure she’d know.

**Sebastian** Hmm. Not a bad idea. I’ll do that. Catch you later.

**Sam** Later!

~~~~~

Sebastian stood up from his chair and stretched. It was late morning, and Dana was for sure out in the greenhouse fussing about. He looked outside the window and saw that it was snowing lazily, barely enough to cover the ground. He went down stairs and poured some hot coffee into a thermos and put on his boots.

Dana was tending to the plants in the greenhouse when she heard the door open. Her boyfriend stood there in his hoodie, kicking the snow off his boots. “I brought you some coffee,” he said, approaching and handing her the thermos.

The farmer smiled. “Thanks! I could use this,” she said taking a sip. “Though it seems that someone took a few swigs,” she chuckled.

“Dunno who that could be,” he grinned and ruffled her hair. “Hey do you have time for a break?”

“Yeah actually, this is a good time. What’s up?” Dana said, brushing off her pants.

“I got Maru as my Winter Star person and I don’t know what to get her. You’re good at giving presents, I thought maybe you could help.”

Dana laughed. “Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’d expect you to know more about it than me….but let’s see...when we’ve hung out, she’s always been most happy when she was talking about science or inventing things. She usually has need of a lot of the minerals and gems from the mines….maybe an assortment of stuff from there and a book about science?”

“That’s a good idea….if I go into the mines then I’ll be actively doing something for her, so that’ll get me good big brother points.”

“Yeah, and if you fail miserably, you still have the book.”

“Hmmm….okay, the mines it is. The book I can order online, and maybe one of those short sci-fi card games….hey will you come into the mines with me tomorrow? I could use some backup.”

“Sure I can! I won’t even tell Maru I helped,” she said with a wink. “I’ve got to think of something for my Winter Star too, I got Penny.”

Sebastian snorted, thinking about his previous conversation with Sam. 

“What’s that reaction for?”

“Oh...just something Sam told me about he and Penny. Apparently, they raced out of there so they could try _things_ ,” Sebastian said, putting the things part in air quotes.

“Oooo….gossip! Well, good for them, that DOES give me an idea though….” Dana said mischievously.

“You’re going to get her a dildo aren’t you? You two can have a matching set of ‘swords’.” Sebastian said, a small smirk tilting the corners of his lips.

“SEBASTIAN!” Dana shouted, blushing furiously. “Have you been going through my nightstand?”

“Hey, I was looking for something. Maybe you should hide your toys better….although for what it’s worth, I think it’s awesome and we should use it sometime.”

If possible, her face got even redder. “What, like, together?”

“Mhmm.”

“Hmmph. Well, okay. That way you can make up for going through my things. What were you looking for anyway?”

“I couldn’t find where I threw my boxers the other night and thought they fell in there or something. I eventually found them on one of the lamps though,” he stated.

Dana couldn’t help but laugh at the way he casually explained all this, as if ripping off each other’s clothes every night like animals was totally normal.

“ANYWAY, I had a different idea in mind for Penny,” she said innocently. “Maybe a nice lingerie set or nightgown to start out with….”

“You know that’s probably not a bad idea. She’d be too shy to purchase something like that herself, and with their...not so great situation I bet she doesn’t treat herself often,” Sebastian added.

Dana frowned a little, “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe I’ll get her something else too...something more her speed like a couple romance novels.”

“Sounds about right. Well, thanks for the advice, I’m going to go see about Maru’s gift. Don’t overwork yourself okay?” he said, kissing the top of her head.

“Aye aye captain,” she said, with a small smile. “Feel free to play around with my sword if you get bored,” the farmer added with a wink. Sebastian blushed and chuckled, though a slight curious expression crossed his face as he pondered the idea. “Don’t tempt me,” he said before turning and heading back into the house.

~~~~

The Day of the Feast

Before Dana knew it, the day of the feast had arrived. Knowing that it was a long event, she’d gotten up extra early to make sure all of her chores were done, and she’d have time to shower. She turned the hot water on full blast, and she peeled the dirty clothes off of her body. Stepping into the shower, her nerves caught up to her.

_I hope I didn’t go overboard…_ the farmer thought. _I hope Penny likes what I got her, but it might be best to give it to her privately, so that she’s not embarrassed…_.

The curtain was suddenly pulled back and Sebastian stood there naked and hopped in. “You’ve got that look on your face,” he said casually, turning and grabbing some shampoo.

“What look?” she asked, moving his hands and giving him a mohawk with the shampoo. He sighed.

“The look that you are worried about something stupid you can’t control,” he explained as he continued to clean the rest of his body. “Besides, you’ve been in here like, 20 minutes.”

“That long? Fuck...sorry. I WAS lost in thought, hoping today will go well.”

“Of course it will...I wouldn’t worry about it. It’s the thought that counts,” he stated, finishing up his shower and turning the water off. He reached over and grabbed both of their towels, tossing Dana’s unceremoniously over her wet form with a smile.

“Oof. Such a jerk to me…” she smiled and stepped out. 

“For what it’s worth….the festival is so cheesy. But, admittedly ...and don’t you DARE say this to anyone,” he began with a playful threat to his voice, “...I’m actually looking forward to giving Maru her present.”

“You? Mr. Moody ‘I liked coffee before it was cool’?” she quipped.

He stuck out his tongue at her. “Now who’s the jerk?”

“Eh, both of us are assholes, its okay. We are each others assholes!”

“Gross?” he laughed. “C’mon...let’s get this over with.”

Dana sighed and got dressed - a little warmer than usual being that she was spending most of the day outside. When they were both ready, they gathered their wrapped presents and began the stroll into town.

~~~~~~

The town was decorated to the nines and long tables were set up for each family. Desserts and appetizers were strewn all about and people bounced from table to table, chatting with their friends and family members. The kids were romping through the snow, tossing snowballs at each other and out of the corner of her eye, Dana could see Sam and Penny doing the same thing.

Sebastian and Dana made their way over to Abby, buried in her phone. The three chatted casually until Sam and Penny joined them. The bulk of the day was spent mostly like this, hanging out with their friends, sharing some laughs and occasionally checking in with their respective families.

Later in the afternoon, the main courses were served and Dana took a moment to wonder why all of this was done outside in the middle of winter, and not indoors, but she simply shrugged it off. Besides, the food was delicious. Robin saved a seat for Dana specifically next to her and the two made polite conversation about upgrades and this and that until the food was gone and the sun was beginning to set.

Mayor Lewis approached the podium and cleared his throat. A massive tree stood behind him and the moment he began to speak, the lights sparkled on, illuminating him and drawing everyone’s attention.

“Now now folks, settle down. I’d like to thank all of you for being here to celebrate another fruitful year in Pelican town. Without each and every one of you, we would not have the life we have here. Let’s take this moment to appreciate all of our friends and family near us….you never know what the future will bring,” he said in a loud and clear voice. He could see the townsfolk smiling at their loved ones. Under the table, Sebastian grabbed Dana’s hand and gave it a little squeeze.

“And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The gift exchange! Go on and find your assigned person!” he concluded, watching the town rummage around under their tables for their gifts.

Dana couldn’t stand the suspense anymore and kissed Sebastian’s head, saying she was going to find Penny and try to get her privately. Sebastian nodded and moved over into her seat, facing Maru.

Maru’s attention was drawn to her own gift at her feet, as she fiddled nervously. The dark haired man pulled a big bag out and set it on the table, pushing it towards Maru. 

“Um, happy Feast of the Winter Star Maru...I hope you like what I got you,” he said a little sheepishly, glad that the large bag was mostly blocking his face.

“Oh wow...thanks Sebastian….I guess it was fate, because I got you too!” Marau said, pushing a package across the table to Sebastian. She moved the bag to her side and reached in eagerly. She pulled out a plain brown, cardboard box and shook it a little. The contents rattled inside. Curiously, she slowly opened the box and her eyes sparkled. Inside were two small gold bars, a battery pack, and a ruby. She touched each one gingerly.

“This is amazing! This is just what I need for my latest project!” she beamed.

Sebastian chuckled. “I figured. Dana and I went on a little trip to the mines. But keep going, there’s more.”

Maru, already having lost her cool, reached around wildly into the bag and brought out something big. “SEB! This is too much….but VERY much needed!” his sister said, pulling out her brand new microscope and a book on how to use it and analyze samples.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’m saving a lot of money living on the farm,” he said casually, as if it were no big deal.

“You’re the BEST big brother!” Maru said, getting up and running around the table to give Sebastian a hug. He blinked in shock and awkwardly hugged her back. Robin and Demetrius looked at the scene and smiled, happy to see their children getting along.

“Bah, what am I thinking. You haven’t opened your gift yet!” Maru said, reaching over and shoving the package into his arms as she took a seat next to him.

“Alright, alright, chill…” he said as he began opening the long, flat package. 

As he unwrapped it, he saw something shiny and black. Getting excited, he tore open the rest and laying there was a punkish leather jacket, complete with buckles and studs for detail. He felt the fabric between his fingers.

“Wow this is perfect, Maru….wait is this REAL leather? This must have cost a fortune!” he said.

“Don’t worry about it,” she smiled in the same way he had just done with her. “I thought you needed it….the leather really helps when you are riding and that hoodie isn’t going to last forever.”

“That’s very thoughtful, thank you Maru...um...do you want a hug?” he asked.

“Yes please!” she said, leaning over and giving him another hug.

~~~

Elsewhere, Dan had spotted Penny walking away from Leah, one present lighter. The shy red head looked to the stars with a smile on her face, happy that her gift was well accepted.

“Penny!” Dana said, racing over. They were far enough away from anyone else at this point, but Dana looked around to make sure the coast was clear. She held out a large decorated bag for Penny.

“I am your fairy gift giver this year. I um...hope you like it. Before you open it though….I hope you won’t be too embarrassed...you’ll see why but I can explain some things as you open them,” Dana said, nervously.

Penny smiled softly and reached forward to grab the gift. “Thank you so much, Dana, I am sure I will love it.”

“The stuff on top are the things you can show to people if asked what you got. The stuff on the bottom is for your eyes only.”

“Heh...you’re making me a little nervous,” she chuckled. She sat down on the bench and pulled out the first item. She made an ‘o’ sound with her mouth as she took out the garment. It was a white, lightweight kimono style robe with red poppies and green vines. It was silky smooth to the touch with long flowing arms and would hit around mid thigh.

“Dana….this is so beautiful ...and poppies are my favorite. This isn’t embarrassing at all...and I love it,” Penny said gratefully, admiring the fabric.

“Eh, keep going,” Dana said, a little relieved that the first gift had gone over well.

Penny pulled out two novels next, very clearly romances, given the shirtless muscular dudes on the front cover. Penny chuckled. “I do love a good romance.”

“Those are set in fantasy worlds too...I thought maybe it might help to get out of this world and into another one from time to time...kinda like how we play Solarion Chronicles to escape the real world,” Dana explained.

“Oh….you know I never really thought about it that way. I’ve always read more traditional romances….but maybe this will give me a good opportunity to see a part of Sam’s world and interests. Thank you so much!” Penny said, honestly thankful for the gift.

“No problem! Now the GOOD stuff!” Dana said. _I don’t think she noticed the tentacles on the second novel….maybe that’s for the best._

Penny smiled and put her other gifts aside, reaching in the large bag to find a smaller, pink bag. Inside, lay a lacey white bra and matching thong. Penny’s face immediately went red.

Dana stammered a little. “I um….thought maybe you didn’t have too many chances to get this kind of thing for yourself...so I took the liberty. If it doesn’t fit, I can exchange it.”

Penny coughed a little and turned her head. “I’m sure it will be fine. I um….you’re right, I don’t treat myself to things like this but….it’s very beautiful.”

“I wanted you to feel like the beautiful woman you are, Penny. Every woman deserves it. Even if no one sees it, you’ll know. And you’ll feel sexy and confident,” Dana said with a wink.

Penny averted her eyes, but had a small embarrassed smile. “T-thank you. For all of it...this was very thoughtful of you.”

“No sweat. You can talk to me about...stuff too you know. I won’t judge you or anything,” the farmer added.

“I’ll um...keep that in mind,” Penny said arranging the items back in the bag with the robe on top. She leaned over and gave Dana a hug. “Thanks...I should get going though. I hope you enjoy the rest of the feast,” the red head said with a soft smile.

Dana hugged her back. “You too. I’ll see you around,” she responded with a little wave as her friend walked off.

_That went pretty well. I bet she’s a little embarrassed, but I hope she takes what I said to heart. Girl could use some confidence._ Dana thought to herself, looking up to the sky.

A few minutes went by and Dana was lost in thought with her head tilted back when she heard the thump of someone sitting down heavily next to her.

“There you are, I was trying to find you for a while,” the gruff voice said next to her. She turned her head to see Shane sitting there with a small box in his lap - or rather….it wasn’t really a box persay, it was something else.

“I take it you drew the short straw?” Dana said with a wry smile.

“You could say that….then again not really because I knew what to get you instantly.” Shane responded, handing over the small container. Dana noticed immediately that there were holes in it, and it was made of hard plastic. This wasn’t a box...it was a carrier.

She turned it around curiously and looked through the front grate to see a tiny blue chick inside. It caught her eye and peeped happily.

“WHAT THE…?! Its BLUE!” she exclaimed, not quite sure what to think.

“Yes….she’s blue. I’ve been raising blue chickens lately.”

“What the fu---HOW?!” Dana asked incredulously, still staring out the tiny bird.

“Trade secret I’m afraid. Listen, do you want her or not? I can take her back to my flock.” Shane said, getting bored of the conversation.

“YES! I absolutely want her….I’m going to name her Belle,” she decided immediately, and set the carrier in her lap. “Thanks Shane.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’ve got a lot of chickens to care for already, and I’m sure she’ll do well on your farm. It was a no brainer.”

“I love her. I’ll take great care of her.”

“I know you will. Right, well, I’m going to get going. See you later, Dana.”

“Later,” Dana said, watching him walk off. When he was out of sight, she spoke to the chick. “You know Belle, I wouldn’t get offended that he gave you away. He talks a mean game, but he was sad to part with you, I can tell.”

Belle cheeped happily, bouncing up a little. “Alright...you’re cooped up, but we’ll have to wait until we get back to the farm. It's too dark to take you out now and I don’t want to lose you, I promised to take care of you remember?”

Belle peeped in disappointment, but settled down in her carrier.

“Good girl. Let’s go meet your dad!” Dana said happily, getting up from her seat and rejoining her family at the feast.

~~~

“ITS BLUE!” Sebastian exclaimed.

“She. She’s blue. And her name is Belle.” Dana said firmly, reaching a finger inside to stroke the chick’s soft feathers.

“But...but...BLUE,” her boyfriend said with his mouth hanging open. Robin snorted from the other side of the table. “Well this is one for the books,” the red headed carpenter said.

“Welp. Now I’ve seen everything,” the dark haired man said, sitting back down in his seat.

Dana leaned over to whisper in his ear. “You haven’t seen *everything* yet. You haven’t seen what I’m wearing underneath all these clothes especially for you.”

Sebastian perked up and nudged her leg. “The worst. You are the absolute worst,” he whispered back.

Dana grinned and turned to the rest of the table, “I think we better get Belle to the farm and into the coop with the other chickens….I don’t think she’s comfortable. Come on, Seb.”

He wordlessly nodded and they both said their goodbyes to the table.

Robin turned to Dememtrius and let out a pleased sigh. “Ahhhh to be young and in love, right Demetrius?”

“What’s this about only being young,” he smiled, wrapping an arm around his wife. “For what it's worth….they look happy.”

“They do...they really do,” she responded wistfully as she nuzzled into her husbands shoulder.


	23. Sinking Shots - Smut

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana and Sebastian try a little mischevious role play.

It was late at night and the snow was falling heavily as two hooded figures appeared by the backdoor of the Stardrop Saloon. Giggling like high schoolers, the smaller of the two turned the knob, not surprised to find it open.

“Perfect...no one locks any doors in this town…” she whispered excitedly. The taller form chuckled. “You are such a deviant…” he said in a deep voice which sent a chill down her spine.

She grinned widely and opened the door very carefully, avoiding any squeaking. Once inside, Dana removed her hood. Sebastian did the same.

“Are you sure about this? Won’t Gus hear us?”

Dana nodded. “I have it on good authority that Gus sleeps with headphones on….something about needing ambient music to fall asleep. Still...let’s be….stealthy.”

“You? Stealth?” he smirked. “They better be some pretty strong noise cancelling headphones,” he quipped and she swatted his shoulder gently.

“Very funny….now...how about we play some….pool?” she winked, sashaying over to the cues and picking up one. She stroked the top of it slowly, never breaking eye contact. “You’re so good at it Seb….I want you to teach me properly,” she said in a sing-song voice, batting her eyes flirtatiously. This was all part of the game and Sebastian dropped right into character.

“I suppose I could spare a few moments to make sure you don’t embarrass yourself further….let’s see your form,” he instructed, his tone confident and haughty.

Dana smiled, “Thanks, I’ll show you what I’ve got…” she replied, throwing him a wink and heading to the shorter side of the table. She bent over seductively, her short, tight skirt riding up. Sebastian could see the bottoms of her cheeks and her plump lips straining at the silky fabric of her panties.

She pretending to line up a shot. “Like this?” she asked sweetly.

Sebastian crossed his arms, his eyes betraying his character and glancing at her presenting herself. “No no….you’re doing it ALL wrong….let me show you,” he said, walking over and standing behind her. He leaned his body over hers, his hands landing on top of hers. His arms laid on top of hers and his mouth was right by her ear.

“You have to be gentle with it,” he whispered, moving the cue back and forth in her hands. “Like this….but also make sure you’ve got a good grip…”

His hips were flush with hers and she shifted them languidly. “Alright,” she said “I just need to adjust my position then…”

He felt her grind against him and suppressed a moan. He loved her ass and the feeling of the round flesh pressed against him. He was struggling not to break character and have her right there. But this was a game they were playing, and if there was one thing Sebastian was good at, it was playing games. He was not going to let her win so easily, despite his hardening member betraying him.

“B-better,” he stuttered. She smirked and hit the cue ball firmly. “I think that worked really well…” the student said, watching her ball bounce off the wall and not hit anything else.

“No, no, no….all wrong. You need to actually hit the ball,” he chided lightly.

“Sorry sir, I guess I was distracted,” she said, wiggling her hips back into position.

“Hmmm I see the problem,” he commented, standing up and bringing his hands to her hips. He tilted them and thrust them back onto his own. “Your hips should go like this….”

Dana could feel him, hard as a rock, straining against the fabric and admired his dedication to character. She wondered how long he could hold out as she herself was struggling. The farmer was pretty sure she was going to leave a damp spot on the front of his pants.

“Er….right. Thanks, sir,” she said, lining up another shot. He leaned down over her again. “Let me help…” he said, placing his hands over hers and helping her with the shot. The cue hit a ball and it went right into the pocket.

“You’re so _good_ at getting it in Sebastian…” she said in a whisper, almost a moan.

“It’s not the only thing I’m good at….” he started.

“ _Bingo,_ ” she thought. “Maybe you can show me what else you are good at?”

Sebastian looked down at her form, so beautiful and willing and realized he couldn’t take the suspense anymore. The thrill of being caught plus her lewd motions was driving him absolutely wild. He slowly pulled down her panties, leaving her exposed. Her lips shone with her slick and he knew she was just as desperate as he was. He hastily unbuckled his belt and undid his pants, pushing them and his underwear down.

“Well for one, I’m really good at lining up shots…” he said with a strained grunt as he pushed inside her in one hard, fluid movement.

Dana’s body jerked forward, her breasts pressing against the table. “Ohhh….ohhh I can see that…” she moaned, squeezing her inner walls around him. Sebastian set a wild pace, his hips bucking rapidly as she gripped the sides of the table for dear life. She opened her mouth to let out a loud moan, but realized where she was and tried to stifle it, letting out a soft whimper instead. “Yessss….yesss….” she whispered, urging him on. He snaked a hand around her hips and began circling her clit.

Sebastian bit his lip and closed his eyes, focusing hard. Seeing her bent over like this was not helping him maintain his stamina. Fortunately, he felt her legs shaking against him, a signal of what was to come.

“Seb…” she moaned softly…”Fuck...so close…” she whined and his finger pressed her button harder, swirling around. He kept up the stimulation as her control gave out and her climax surged forward. She clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent a loud string of curses from being shouted into the night.

Sebastian grinned, but slowed down. He pulled out of her and she turned her head around curiously. He smirked, sensing her question and he gently turned her around, lifted her up by her ass and began crawling across her body until they were laying down on the table itself. He smacked the balls away and they scattered everywhere as his lips captured hers in a fierce kiss.

Without wasting another second he was back inside her. She wrapped her legs around his torso in delight and felt every inch of him drive into her again and again. Her nails drug down the fabric of his hoodie, and eventually moved south to grip his ass and propel him even further.

Their tongues and hips did furious battle with each other, setting an unsustainable pace. Their bodies smacked together in perfect rhythm with each other but Sebastian was nearing his breaking point. He broke the kiss to let out a strangled moan.

Dana, sensing how close he was, took the opportunity to reach down and rub her clit. The extra pressure felt wonderful as she looked downward and saw him disappear inside her over and over again. The image of him being swallowed whole seared itself into her memory. That was all it took for her to become undone again and she arched her back on the table, trying her hardest not to scream in the throes of her orgasm.

With a strained grunt, Sebastian let go and came hard, shooting wave after wave of cum inside her. He gasped at the force of it, and rode it out for all it was worth. Panting heavily, he collapsed on top of her, pecking her on the lips and grinning like an idiot.

She wasn’t much better as she had yet to recover. The world slowly reformed around her and she wrapped her arms around her love.

“Fffuucck…that was intense,” was all he could say before he rested his head on her chest.

“I told you it would be worth it.”

“When you’re right, you’re right….damn….that was hot,” he commented. She chuckled and it jiggled her breast right in his face. 

Regretfully, he realized that they were still in public and climbed off of her and the table. He reached a hand over and helped her get down. She shimmied back into her underwear and inspected the table. “No signs we were here. Good shooting, partner,” she said elbowing him as he re-buckled his belt. 

Sebastian snickered. “Oh very funny.”

Giggling, they escaped into the night, no one the wiser.

Later the next day, when it was time for Dana to take her daily pill, she noticed something. She had missed the previous day. Shrugging, she took both at once and thought nothing of it. “ _Everyone misses one now and then, it's not a big deal,_ ” she convinced herself and went about her day.


	24. April Showers Bring May Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana and Sebastian deal with the consequences of the previous chapter.

Time skip - Mid spring

Dana was doubled over the toilet bowl, feeling quite terrible on this rainy morning. She’d been in the bathroom at least an hour, and every time she went to stand up, another wave of nausea wracked her body.

“Fuck, I hate food poisoning...” she groaned as Sebastian stepped into the room. 

“I didn’t think my Flower Dance moves were bad enough to warrant all this,” Sebastain quipped, referring to the dance a few nights prior. His attempt to lighten the mood failed as Dana lamented into the bowl. 

“The fuck did you eat?” he asked, handing her a glass of ginger ale. She took it gratefully and sat against the cabinet, sipping the drink slowly.

“I found a mushroom the other day...I thought it was a morel, but maybe I was wrong…” she said, taking deep breaths.

“Maybe we should go to the clinic then...if its poison you’ll want to get some medicine or something,” Sebastian said, sitting down next to her and holding her hand. It was still shaking from her previous bouts of vomiting.

“I’ve felt this before...in the city I’d get food poisoning at least once a year. Fortunately, it was over within a day or two. Auuugggg...I wasn’t expecting it out here, oh fuck….” she cursed, tilting her head into the toilet bowl.

Sebastian looks at her helplessly and tried to pull back the tufts of her spiky hair. It was matted with sweat from her exertion.

“Maybe you are right though...if I’m poisoned, I’ll need an antidote stat. Let me take a quick shower and I’ll meet you in the living room,” she said, using his hand to help herself up to standing. The hot water felt like paradise as it danced over her skin. For a short while, the nausea subsided and she felt a tiny bit more human. She threw on a pair of soft yoga pants and a baggy t-shirt, fully aware that she looked like hell, but cared very little.

“I don’t think the motorcycle is a good idea so we’re going to have to walk, that okay?” Sebastian asked gently, trying not to worsen her already foul mood.

“That’s fine...I think being outside might do me some good. Lucky it’s raining today but I still have to collect the eggs and -”

“I’ll take care of it, don’t worry,” Sebastian reassured her, holding an umbrella over them.

“I don’t deserve you,” she said, hugging his side.

“Hey, we’re in this for the long haul right? If you are sick, I’ll take care of you. Besides, I don’t want to get soft...helping out on the farm is doing me some good. I think I saw an ab the other day,” he joked.

She smiled weakly at him. “Well, I appreciate you.”

The made their way into town, Sebastian letting the farmer lean on him and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Normally, he wasn’t so keen on huge displays of affection, but seeing how tired and weak she was, he was determined to do anything he could to make her feel better. She had to stop once or twice to vomit, but they pressed on nonetheless. Finally, after it seemed like ages, they stepped into the clinic. Sebastian notices that Maru was working today and waved her down.

“Sebastian, Dana...how are you? Oh my...Dana you look sick, what’s wrong?”

“I think I ate a bad mushroom the other day...could you and Harvey see me today?” Dana asked weakly.

“Of course! I’ll go get him, you both can follow me,” Maru said, putting on her best nurse face. She noticed that not only Dana looked horrible, but Sebastian’s face was wracked with worry. She had to admit, it was endearing to see him looking like that at another person, and Maru was glad that her half brother was finally letting someone past his walls.

The nurse led them to a small bed with a curtain for privacy and left to fetch Dr. Harvey. Maru whispered to the doctor and caught him up. The moustached man sat down next to Dana’s bed with a clipboard and stethoscope around his neck. Dana was perched with her legs dangling over the bed and Sebastian was standing, looking worried.

“Okay Dana, I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. What are the symptoms and when did they start?”

“Vomiting, I’m really tired and my body aches….I was feeling nauseous last night, but didn’t vomit until this morning and couldn’t seem to stop. I don’t think there is anything left in there. I’ve had food poisoning before, but if the mushroom I ate was really dangerous….I figured maybe you’d have an antidote.”

Dr. Harvey hmm-ed and jotted down some notes. He reached into a drawer and pulled out a wrapped plastic cup.

“Okay, well I’ll need blood and urine samples, so here you go. Bathroom is to your left.”

Dana grimaced. “Fun stuff. Alright….be right back,” she said, entering the bathroom. After that business was complete, she put the sealed up in the little window next to the sink and walked, albeit unsteadily, back to the bed. She laid down, her head spinning. Sebastian held her hand and stroked it with his thumb.

After about 10 minutes, Harvey returned with Maru in tow. “I have some news...would you like me to explain in private?” the doctor asked, glancing over at Sebastian.

“It’s fine. Whatever you tell me, you can tell him,” she said, sitting up and feeling her heart rate start to beat fast. “What did you find out? Do you need to take blood?”

“Well, there’s no toxins in your system, so you won’t need an antidote. As for blood work I don’t think that will be necessary,” he began, looked her in the eye and continued. “Dana, when was the last time you got your period?”

The farmer flushed slightly. “Um….probably about 2 months ago? Maybe a little less? But I sometimes skip months on my birth control, that’s nothing new.”

Harvey continued to jot down notes. “Alright, and did you take all of your pills last month?”

“Of course I -” she halted, realization dawning on her face. “I missed only one...b-but I doubled up the next morning, that should have protected me right?” she asked, her voice getting higher and less steady.

“Not this time. Dana, I’m just going to come out and say it… you’re pregnant...if you are just seeing symptoms now, you are probably anywhere from 4-6 weeks along.”

Dana looked like her whole world had collapsed around her. What little color she had in her face drained, as she tried to take in what the doctor was saying. 

“No...no no no no…” she said, tears starting to form in her eyes. “I can’t….I….” she said, letting go of Sebastian’s hand and avoiding his gaze. The world began to spin and what little color she had drained from her face. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat and hopped off the table…”I have to get out of here...send me the bill please…” was all she said before she took off running, leaving the others behind.

“Wait, Dana we have to talk about vit - bah, she’s gone,” Harvey huffed. “I’ll include some instructions for her hang on,” he said looking to Sebastian, and turning to the computer. “I don’t mean to pry, but I take it you are the father?” the doctor asked.

The dark haired man stood there, looking shocked and in a trance, but nodded. He had no idea how to process this information. Maru stood next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t even register the touch, but stood there frozen.

“Here we are. A packet for Dana - her options right now, and if she decides to keep it - what to eat, what not to do, a list of vitamins she can get from us later….though not too much later,” Harvey said, handing the stack of papers to Sebastian, who took them, with a far off look in his eyes. The doctor watched him take the papers nervously, look down, and almost mechanically put them in his bag.

“....are you okay?” Harvey asked, his moustache quirked up.

“I...don’t know…” he said, staring off.

“Oh for Yoba’s sake….” Maru said, breaking her silence. “Go after her! She’s out there alone, terrified and in this weather. She needs you. Stop being an asshole and GO!”

Harvey looked shocked at her outburst. “Maru that’s not proper conduct for a nurse…” he chastised her.

“No, but it IS the proper conduct for a sister!” Maru said, flailing her arms. She pushed Sebastian forward and her words and nudging seemed to wake him up out of his stupor. He darted out the door.

Maru and Harvey watched him leave and she shook her head. “He sure is dense sometimes.”

~~~~~~~~~

Sebastian’s first thought was to take off and run towards the farm. His heart pounded, trying to process a very complex range of emotions he was feeling right now. He was terrified of course, and also concerned for Dana’s wellbeing. He was shocked, too. Sure he’d always pictured a family with Dana, but not so soon after moving in and before he could -

His thought process was interrupted when he got to the farm. Sirius looked at him with concern and whined. There was no trace of Dana, and the place was undisturbed since they left a little while ago. He searched all the rooms to no avail. 

Running his hands through his now wet hair, he thought about where she would go. The answer popped into his head immediately, and he smacked himself upside the head for not thinking of it first. Before he left, he went into their bedroom and into his chest of drawers to find something he had hidden there the week before. He pocketed the item and left, heading south this time. 

He cursed his bad smoking habit for making it very difficult to run. Slowing his pace, he had time to think about what he was going to say to her. Despite the anxiety and the nervousness, he found himself surprisingly happy about the news - that in and of itself was shocking. He stopped to catch his breath, leaning on a tree and as he did, he pictured he and Dana sitting in their living room, playing with a child...their child. He realized at that moment that he wanted this….now all he had to do was tell her.

~~~~~~~~~

Dana sat on the edge of the dock, watching the fog roll in. Small droplets of rain were falling, coating her in a light mist. She cared very little for the drops, or how cold her body was becoming. She stared out into the horizon, numb.

“ _You fucked it up right proper this time….you had it all going for you and now he’s going to resent you for ruining his life…_ ” she thought darkly, her heart jumping wildly in her chest. A shiver began to creep up her spine and she shook lightly, tears falling from her eyes and mixing with the rain.

Suddenly, she noticed the rain had stopped falling oh her, despite seeing the pitter patter on the water. Sebastian sat down next to her, holding his red and white umbrella over them both.

“I thought I’d find you here,” he said softly, taking her hand in his. 

Dana looked away, avoiding his eyes. She wanted to remove her hand, but his was so warm, and she felt so weak she just didn’t bother.

Unsure of what else to say, she whimpered, “I’m sorry…”

“Why? It's not your fault. These things happen….” he began but was cut off by Dana shouting.

“It IS my fault, Seb! You trusted me with the birth control and I failed…” she said, turning to face him. He could see her eyes, puffy and red and he frowned.

She continued. “Everything was going so well...now you’re going to resent me or leave…”

Sebastian furrowed his brow. “Why the hell would I leave you or resent you?” he asked, confused.

“That’s what my dad did….it was too much of a burden. We ruined his life.”

He grabbed her shoulders and turned her whole body so that she was facing him. “Hey….stop right there. Don’t you dare compare me to your father. We aren’t your parents. And in case you forgot, my own dad walked out on me...I’d NEVER do that to you,” Sebastian said, his lips in a tight frown. “Did you ever consider that I might be happy about this news?”

“Why would you be HAPPY about this? It’s going to change everything…I don’t want to take your life away...” she cried.

“I love you….nothing is going to change that. I always pictured us having a family someday...it's just a little sooner is all. I’m not going anywhere and we are in good shape. We’re healthy, the farm is doing really well, and we have my family here to help us. It’ll be okay,” he said, giving her a tight hug and adjusting the umbrella as it wobbled. He was a little shocked at himself for being able to say that in a steady tone. 

“But please,” he said softly, “Don’t get rid of him or her just because you think it's not what _I_ want...because I do want this. I want you...and the baby. But, if...if it's something YOU really don’t want then I’ll support that too…” he said with a heavy heart, struggling to get the last words out.

“R-really?” she asked, her voice small. Sebastian nodded and there was a heavy silence that fell upon them as her mind raced.

“I don’t...I don’t want to get rid of it…” she finally said into his chest.

Sebastian breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”

“I don’t deserve you,” she said, her lips twitching upwards in a small smile.

“Of course you do. You deserve the world. You’ve given me meaning in my life, hope, ambition...and now you’ve given me a family,” he said, placing his hand gently on her stomach.

Dana cried and buried her head into his shoulder. Sebastian smiled and kissed the top of her head. They sat there for a few minutes, enjoying each other’s warmth as the clouds continued to roll in.

“Hey,” Sebastian began softly. “I have something for you,” he said, reaching into his hoodie pocket.

She moved her head, sitting back up straight as he pulled an item out. It was a dark blue, spiral seashell with a few cut sapphires into the top. It was on a long, thick silver chain and dangled there heavily. Sebastian took her hand, opened her palm and but the shell there, closing her hand around it. “Do you know what this is and what its for?”

“Yeah….yeah I do….but why,” she said, heat flaring up to her cheeks. Her fist clenched around the shell, her eyes narrowing harshly, taking Sebastian by shock.

“Did you just get this? Did you get this because you thought it was the ‘right thing to do’? Fucks sake….I really am baby trapping you aren’t I?” she spat angrily.

Sebastian sighed heavily. “No, you dolt. If you would calm down for half a minute, I could tell you that I bought this last week. I was planning on giving this to you in a few weeks from now, but I thought….I thought it’d be a good idea to tell you now that I’m committed to you 100%.”

The dark haired man watched as her expression softened and she looked down at the shell in her hand. He smiled. “Though if you want, I could just chuck this into the ocean right now…” he began as he attempted to take it back from her.

“NO!” Dana said protectively, holding it tighter and bringing it to her chest.

“Soooo….does that mean you’ll marry me?” he asked hopefully, nudging her shoulder.

She touched the treasure gently, running her fingers over the smooth shell. She paused for a moment before turning her head and looking him in the eyes. “Yeah….yeah I will,” she responded with a soft smile. She took the necklace and placed it around her neck, the shell landing nicely between her cleavage.

Sebastian was ecstatic. He stood up, grabbing her hand and lifting her up as well. Securing the umbrella in one hand, he used the other to wrap around her waist, pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss. She circled her arms around his neck and responded eagerly. After a few moments, Sebastian noticed that she was starting to shiver and broke this kiss. He held her face in his hands and grinned, pecking her on the nose. He handed her the umbrella, and quickly removed his hoodie, offering it to her. 

“Aren’t you going to get cold?” she asked.

“I never get cold,” he reassured her as he took the umbrella back. She smiled, took the hoodie and threw it on over her soaked clothes. 

“Let’s go home, you are soaked and the good doctor gave me a stack of paperwork to look over. We’ll need to get you some vitamins, some healthier food, a good working regime for the farm so you don’t exert yourself. I’ll help out more of course,” he began listing, ticking off items from his fingers.

Dana couldn’t help but chuckle. “You really are on board with this aren’t you.”

“Of course I am. If we are going to have a baby, it's going to be a healthy, nerdy, extremely good looking baby just like us.”

Dana snorted. “Alright, but you do realize there’s a chance that he or she will take your mom’s genes and have red hair….”

“Hah! Wait…we’ll have to tell them soon,” Sebastian remembered, suddenly a little nervous.

“Having doubts?”

“No….just...mom’s gonna freak. She’s been wanting grandkids for a while….she’s going to be up our ass for the next eight months. I wouldn’t be surprised if she already has a scrapbook of both wedding shower and baby shower planning ideas…” he said rolling his eyes.

Dana smiled warmly as they walked down the dock. “Well...I think it’d be lovely if she was so excited….my mom and dad certainly wouldn’t be…good thing I don’t care what they think,” she said looking off.

“Ah, right….sorry I forget sometimes. I really am a lucky guy,” he said, holding her hand.

“You big sap. Let’s get home and get these wet clothes off,” she said with a smirk.

“Sounds good to me,” he said, and they walked off together towards the farm.

“You know…” Dana began, “I’m not sure I’ll be able to play a game of pool and not laugh during it.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s when we made this baby…”

Sebastian choked, and let out a loud laugh. “You’re s-s-serious?”

“Yep. Has to be,” Dana said, smiling.

Sebastian kept laughing all the way to the farm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my playthrough as Dana, she literally got pregnant as soon as possible in game. I think its like 7 days into marriage? And Seb was already asking for babies.


	25. Breaking the News

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dana and Sebastian tell their friends and family the news.

Later that day...

“You’re WHAT?!” Robin shouted putting her hands down hard on the counter, her eyes sparkling.

“What part do you want me to clarify….the wedding or the baby?” Dana said with a huge smile, holding onto Sebastian’s hand. They had decided not to wait long and told Robin the news early the following morning. Dana wore her new pendant proudly, so that was the first thing to be mentioned….along with the fact that she was going to be a grandmother.

Tears began to form in the carpenter’s eyes and her lip quivered. She got up from around the counter and gave Dana a huge hug. “My new daughter and grandbaby…”

Next she gave Sebastian an equally tight hug. “My baby is having a baby….this is SO EXCITING!”

“Mom…” Sebastian began to whine, but his happy smile gave him away.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for so long. I have IDEAS!”

“Good...I know nothing about weddings and will need all the help I can get,” Dana admitted.

“Don’t you worry about a thing! I’ll just get out my scrapbook -” Robin began.

“Told you,” Sebastian said, looking at Dana with a smirk.

“What’s with all the commotion?” Demetrius said, stepping into the room with Maru in tow.

“Dem, we are going to be grandparents! Isn’t it exciting!” Robin gushed. Dana gave an awkward smile and wave towards the two. 

Maru grinned, she knew this of course, and was happy to see everyone in good spirits. “Congratulations! Wait….is that what I think it is?” she asked, pointing to Dana’s pendant.

“Yep!” Dana said happily.

Demetrius remained quiet, but walked over and put a hand on Sebastian’s shoulder. He looked at the couple and saw the love on their faces as they looked at each other. Whatever concern or fatherly advice he was preparing to give disappeared immediately. He sighed, and gave them a soft smile. “For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you. For finding your happiness, truly.”

Sebastian was taken aback. He had expected a much different response - something along the lines of “why weren’t you careful enough” or “now you’ll have to actually take responsibility for something.” 

“T-thanks,” Sebastian said, clearing his throat. “Um...we are thinking of having the wedding next month at the end of spring…”

“Yeah,” Dana agreed. “I don’t want to be walking down the aisle with a big ole belly,” she sat patting her stomach.

“That’s perfect! That’ll give me plenty of time. Oh...I must tell Caroline and Jodi….I’m so excited…” Robin went off on a tangent talking about many different little things she wanted to do. Dana tried to pay attention, but it was all a little too much.

“Um, I think we are gonna go tell Abby and Sam now….otherwise they’ll find out from their mothers and then they will be upset with us,” Dana finally said, shaking the red haired woman out of her frenzy.

“Of course, of course. If you need anything we’ll be here! I can’t believe it...I’m going to be the best grandma…”

Dana chuckled. “You sure will, bye everyone.” They said their goodbyes and heading off to tell their friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~

As they walked, Dana pulled out her phone. “Oh one sec...she’ll kill me if she’s the last to know.”

 **Dana** : So um. I’m kinda pregnant and Seb and I are getting married next month.

There was a long pause before she received a response.

 **Sasha** : …..

 **Sasha** : WAT. GIRL. THAT’S HOW YOU TELL ME?

 **Dana** : We are on our way to break the news to Sam and Abby.

 **Sasha** : Is this a “omg congrats” thing or “omg I’m so sorry” thing

 **Dana** : HAH! The first one, definitely the first one.

 **Sasha** : Well in that case HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Congratulations!! I’m the maid of honor right?!

 **Dana** : Of course! And the godmother.

 **Sasha** : I may cry. I may legit cry and ruin this fabulous eyeliner job. Look what you’ve done to me.

 **Dana** : I’ll make sure to pick the ugliest, brownest bridesmaids dress I can find, just for you.

 **Sasha** : You hormonal bitch. I love you. 

**Dana** : Love you too...I’ll be on later….I’ve got some more people to shock.

~~~~~~~

 

Conveniently, Abby and Sam were at the blonde’s house, practicing their instruments out of sheer boredom. Sam strummed a few chords on his guitar and Abby hit the drum very lazily.

“Try to be less excited, Abs,” Sam snorted.

“I can’t help it...I’m just so BORED. This town gets more lame every day,” she said, head in her palm.

“Are you going to tell them soon?” Sam said, stopping and looking over to his friend. Abby let out a deep sigh. “I’m not looking forward to it….but it feels like the right thing to do, ya know?”

“I know, dude. You gotta do you...I’m going to miss you but I’d never stop you from achieving your dreams.”

“Thanks, Sam. I hope Seb and Dana take it just as well,” she said, letting out a deep sigh.

“Take what well?” Dana said, stepping into the Sam’s room with Sebastian in tow. 

Abby looked flustered, but calmed herself. “Oh I had a new idea for a song, but I’m not sure it fits with our style...I need to think about it some more before I mention it though,” she lied smoothly, feelings of guilt creeping to the surface. She hoped that her friends wouldn’t notice and let it go. Abby happened to be in luck, as the two had other things on their minds.

“Well, be sure to let us know eventually...it couldn’t hurt to try it,” Sebastian said. Sam shook his head a little and noticed that instead of flopping onto the couch or the bed like they usually did, Sebastian and Dana were standing there holding hands and looking a little odd. They each had small little smiles and their cheeks were tinged a bit pink.

“Uh...aren’t you guys gonna like sit down or something?” Sam asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

“I um...well actually we came here because we wanted to tell you guys something. A couple things actually,” Dana said, rubbing Sebastian’s hand in her own.

“You’re getting married?!” Sam said hurriedly, with excitement in his eyes. Dana sweat dropped, then put her hand on her head, laughed and pulled out the shell from her shirt.

“Actually yes,” she admitted as Sam came barreling over to give her a huge hug. 

“I knew it. I knew Seb was acting really weird a couple weeks ago. ‘I went for an extra long walk in the rain sorry have to skip practice’ my ass!” the blond haired man grinned and went to hug his best friend. “For real though, I am happy for you two.”

Abby on the other hand sat frozen there, the words stuck in her throat. _There’s no way I can let them know right now, _she thought, her brow furrowing. Fortunately, this went unnoticed as Sam continued on, gushing about how amazing the wedding would be and if he’d get to be the best man.__

__Dana didn’t typically pride herself on being the most observant person, especially given her current circumstances, but Abby’s quiet non-reaction made her tilt her head curiously._ _

__The purple haired woman shook her head. “Wow, that’s great you two. I don’t know why it’s coming as a surprise ...I shipped this from the start,” she said, throwing a big smile their way._ _

__“Thanks!” Dana said. “We are going to get married next month I think. No reason to really delay it….we already live together. Might as well get the piece of paper and a tax break.”_ _

__Sebastian crossed his arms with a playful smile. “Is that all I am to you? Tssch.” He flipped his hair up for dramatic emphasis._ _

__“Nah, you’ve got a nice dick too.” Dana pointed out._ _

__“GROSS.” Sam said, sticking out his tongue._ _

__“Oh grow up Sam,” Dana rolled her eyes. “Oh and speaking of said dick, I’m also pregnant. And speaking of that, who wants pizza? I could really go for some pizza. And raspberries. On the pizza,” she continued, rambling a little._ _

__“Wait...WHAT,” both Abby and Sam said at the same time._ _

__“Whoops. My bad guys. Yeah, its true. We found out yesterday,” Dana shrugged as if she wasn’t dropping a bomb of news on them._ _

__Sam ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck you guys don’t do ‘easing into it’ do you?” he then laughed suddenly. “BUT! This means I get to be the COOL UNCLE SAM (™)!” he continued, pumping his fist into the air. “Aww man, we’re going to play video games together, and instruments, and Vincent will have someone else to play with.”  
Sebastian chuckled. “I’m sure he or she would be happy to have you as Uncle Sam….wait am I the only one who thinks that name is weird?”_ _

__“Oh come on, it has so much potential,” Sam began, trailing off into wacky scenarios while Sebastian nodded and laughed at his suggestions._ _

__Abby on the other hand, gripped her pants tightly and did her best to hold back her tears. _Fuck Fuck FUCK! Control yourself...they will see...this is their happy moment….don’t make this about you and all the memories you are going to miss...no stop it…._ her mind raced._ _

__Dana sat down next to her and asked her quietly, “Hey...what’s wrong?” For the life of her, the farmer couldn’t figure out why her friend was upset. Surely she didn’t have feelings for Sebastian...she was interested in Sasha. But then, why?_ _

__Abby looked away, but a tear fell down her cheek. “It’s nothing...I am truly happy for you guys….really.”_ _

__“Bullshit. Let’s get out of this tiny room and get some fresh air.” Dana said, dragging her friend by the arm through the door. She shot a look over to Sebastian that said ‘I’ve got this….keep Sam busy.’ He simply nodded._ _

__Outside, Abby’s defenses broke down. She buried her head in her hands as she sat down heavily on the step._ _

__Dana sat next to her and rubbed her arm. “Please tell me….we are friends, you can be honest with me. Are you upset about the news?”_ _

__“NO!...no at least not in the way that it seems….fuck….I have some news too but I didn’t want to ruin your moment or anything,” Abby sniffled._ _

__“Don’t hold back….tell me. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but I’ll try not to be upset.”_ _

__Abby took a deep breath. “Well...I think it’s good news.”_ _

__“Yeah?”_ _

__“Yeah. Well…” the purple haired girl began. “You know I’ve never been happy here. You and Sam and Seb are my reason to get up in the morning, but I’ve always felt like I’ve needed more in my life than this town could offer. No one else gets me here. But after meeting Sasha….it’s like...a whole new door opened for me. I found a job working at a curiosity shop and I’m moving to the city to live with Sasha in a few weeks….”_ _

__“Abby, that’s GREAT news!” Dana said, smiling and hugging her friend. “Why are you sad about that? That’s so cool that you get to do something like that and live with Sasha. Imagine the slumber parties we will have when I visit!”_ _

__“Because I’m not going to BE here anymore….I’m going to miss out on your family and the adventures….I’m starting to have some doubts…”_ _

__Dana grabbed her by the shoulders. “Look at me, Abby.” The other girl complied, shyly. Dana continued. “You will barely be an hour away. We’ll visit each other all the time! I’m still super close with Sasha despite being here. And you can always sleep over at the farm when you come to visit. Sure, we will be farther apart, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be in each others lives. We have Girls Night Raids, remember??!”_ _

__Abby smiled weakly. “I guess you’re right….I didn’t want you to think I was abandoning you.”_ _

__Dana grabbed her friend in a headlock. “Abandon me? Bitch you can’t get RID of me. And my spawn will need super cool gay aunts to teach them the ways of the occult world. And hey think of it this way….being so far away I won’t be bugging you to babysit!”_ _

__Abby laughed, her mood lifted considerably. “True. I admit I feel a little silly now.”_ _

__“Don’t be….imagine how bad I’m going to get. Promise you’ll be patient with me?” Dana said, holding up her pinky finger._ _

__Abby linked it with hers. “I promise.”_ _

__“So...super important question though.”_ _

__“Okay, what is it?”_ _

__“Can we still get that pizza?”_ _

__Abby laughed and stood up, reached her arm out to Dana who took it and hoisted herself up._ _

__“Sure, but if you put fruit on my portion I’ll disown you and your emo baby.”_ _

__“HEY! He or she will be the best emo baby you’ve ever seen. Its super small but I can already tell it has bangs and is listening to My Chemical Romance.”_ _

__Abby let out a loud belly laugh. “I’d expect nothing less. Come on, let’s get back inside before Sam convinces Sebastian to do something stupid and reckless with your child.”_ _

__“That’s a fair concern.” Dana said, heading back into the house just in time to hear. “.....but Seb hear me out….toddler go kart racing.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are wrapping up! Only one or two more chapters to go. Sorry for the gaps in time...my job has been taking up a lot of my time :P


End file.
